


Heartbeats

by Ocelot_l



Category: Atop the Fourth Wall, Channel Awesome, That Guy with the Glasses
Genre: Hallucinations, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, PTSD, Psychological Torture, Rescue, Sexual Content, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-08
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-14 22:47:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 37,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/520309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ocelot_l/pseuds/Ocelot_l
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sequel to Chest Pains</p>
<p>Co-authored with Bookishlady242 on Livejournal</p>
<p>After the events of Atop the Fourth Wall: Rock and Roll #31, 90s Kid is hurt and vulnerable. 80s Dan quickly comes to his aid, but what does Holokara have planned? What will two hearts do to keep beating?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

  
It was 11 o’clock when they finally arrived back at Linkara’s. 80s Dan slid his car into park and turned to the passenger sitting next to him. It was unsettling to be around a near-silent 90s Kid, but for the past ten minutes, the teen had fallen into a contemplative state that didn’t seem to require words. Concern was written all over Dan’s face as he reached out and hesitantly took his hand. 90s Kid was looking out the window, still lost in thought, but he gripped Dan’s hand almost automatically in response.

“Well… here we are.” Dan said. They were getting ready to venture back inside Linkara’s place so that 90s Kid could collect his things. After Dan's arrival earlier that day, he'd taken 90s Kid out to McDonald's for a bite to eat, and then driven him around the town for a few hours so he could get away from the base for a little while. As they'd driven, Dan had extended an invitation to spend a few days with him over at his house, which was mainly intended to keep 90s Kid safe from further incident, and 90s Kid had gladly accepted (not that Dan would have taken no for an answer anyway).

90s Kid finally looked toward him and nodded. Still keeping silent for the moment, he unbuckled his seatbelt and gave a heavy sigh. Dan brought a gentle hand up to his face and turned his head until they were eye to eye. “I’m coming in with you.” It wasn’t a question.

90s Kid nodded again. “I’m not gonna argue with you, dude. Let’s just get in there and totally motor.”

“That’s the plan.” Dan did his best to sound confident. They got out of the car and walked up the stairs to the front door. Dan kept close, placing a comforting hand on 90s Kid’s lower back as he fumbled for his keys with trembling fingers. They walked inside without incident and found the apartment was quiet. Soft lights were still on and somewhere in the back of the house the dripping of water could faintly be made out. There was no sign of Holokara.

90s Kid quickly headed toward his room but froze at a sudden noise. In a flash, Dan shoved the younger man behind him, shielding him with his body in case that bastard tried anything again.

“90s Kid, where have you been?”

90s Kid breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s okay, it’s just Pollo,” he murmured into Dan’s ear. Dan relented and stepped back, but still kept a firm arm around his waist and watched the small robot hover toward them cautiously.

“Hey, Pollo. Uh, I’ve been out with Dan. I’m just, like, here to pack a bag; I’ll be over at his place for a few days.”

Pollo leaned his body forward in acknowledgment. “I will tell Holokara that you have gone.” 90s Kid’s entire body tensed with fear. He felt his pulse race and there was an unpleasant twinge in his chest.

“N-no! Uh, um, I mean, you don’t have to do that, dude! I already let him know, it’s cool. Please, uh, please don’t bother him; he’s probably, like, resting or something right now… yeah…”

Dan winced. He hated the way 90s Kid was pleading with Pollo just now, as if he was terrified of being attacked at any moment. Unfortunately, that seemed to be an actual possibility just now, which was why the older man remained on high alert, and constantly looked around for anything that could be a threat.

Pollo paused for a moment and peered at 90s Kid without saying anything. Then his red eye flashed. “Understood. Have a pleasant trip.” Pollo turned and floated away then, disappearing within a moment.

90s Kid sagged against Dan for a moment and took a few relieved breaths before making his way to his room at last. He grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and started throwing in random clothes, comics, and Genesis games.

“Okay, I’ve think we’ve got enough. Let’s go.” They hurried out of the base and back into Dan’s car. 90s Kid buckled his seatbelt and glanced back up at the large window on the front of the building. His throat seemed to close up when he saw Holokara peering down at them from inside, his expression blank, save for the slightly drawn eyebrows. Dan looked over and watched as the teen went pale.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, dude. Fine.”

“You don’t look so good-"

“Please, dude, let’s just go. Please…”

Dan quickly threw the car into gear and sped off. He had already called Dolly and ROB to warn them that 90s Kid was coming over, and that they needed their space. He hadn’t divulged all the details, of course, but he’d revealed that something was going on at Linkara’s house that required 90s Kid to get away for a while. They were curious, but didn’t pry, and for once Dan was grateful that his roommates showed such little interest in his life.

At the first traffic light, Dan glanced over at his passenger. 90s Kid was staring out the window again, his hands gripping the sides of his duffel tightly. He looked like he might be sick, so Dan reached over to entwine their fingers one more.

“Kid. Look at me.” 90s Kid swallowed but slowly turned his head toward Dan. “Take your glasses off. I want you to look me in the eyes.” 90s Kid hesitated for a minute, but raised trembling hands and took them off. Wide eyes full of fear, pain, and vulnerability stared back at Dan. It was obvious 90s Kid was on the verge of tears and just barely keeping it together. Although Dan’s insides were writhing in anguish, he met the teen with an unwavering gaze and put a gentle hand on his face. “Listen to me. I promise you, no matter what happens, I will keep you safe. Do you trust me?”

It took a moment, but 90s Kid nodded. Dan frowned, unsatisfied. “I want to hear you say it. Do you trust me?”

“Yeah… I trust you, Dan… of course I do.”

Dan smiled and used his thumb to wipe away the single tear that had managed to escape. Then he slid 90s Kid’s sunglasses back on. “It’s a bit of a drive.”

“I don’t mind.” Dan was surprised when 90s Kid laid his head down onto his shoulder and slid his arm through Dan’s, getting himself settled in for the journey, but he only shifted closer to the teen and continued to drive. No words were spoken, or needed right now, save the lyrics of the soft 80s music playing on the radio. Dan kept his eyes on the road while 90s Kid closed his and slept.

The radio continued to play on.

_“I just wanna use your love tonight… I don’t wanna lose your love tonight…”_  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The sun was just starting to rise when Dan pulled into his driveway. It had been a long night, but thanks to his determined nature and an endless supply of espressos, Dan had finally completed his goal of taking 90s Kid somewhere safe.

Dan rubbed his blood-shot eyes before glancing over at his passenger with a small smile. The teen had been dozing for most of the trip with his sunglasses still covering his eyes, but the last bout of unpaved street had knocked them and his cap away to reveal a perfectly serene expression upon his face. Dan hated having to wake him, but he knew all too well how sleeping in cars at such an awkward angle eventually led to unpleasant, spine-stiffening consequences.

“Hey, Kid.” He gave 90s Kid’s shoulder a gentle shake. “We’re here. You can wake up now.”

90s Kid made a low moaning sound before blinking slowly.

“Whoa… where am I?” He peered around with bleary eyes before settling his gaze on the older man. “Dan? That you, dude?”

“Sure is,” Dan replied, smiling brightly. “And to answer your first question, you’re at Casa de Dan, where every room comes with a complimentary Koosh ball on your pillow!”

90s Kid giggled softly as he slowly sat up, undoing his seatbelt before he stretched his arms up over his head

“Dude, I thought I’d, like, dreamt everything about yesterday. Like you showing up and taking me to McDonald’s and inviting me over and all that junk. I guess it really was real…” He suddenly looked down, the fingers of one hand moving gently across his chest as his expression drooped. 

Dan frowned as he watched 90s Kid’s good mood evaporate within seconds.

“That’s how you should think of it,” he said, sounding more serious than usual. 90s Kid turned to him, slightly surprised. “Yesterday was all some stupid dream, but today you’re awake and seeing what’s real. That’s me, because I’m always going to be there when you need me, and I’m not going to let any other bad dreams even get close to you, Kid.”

90s Kid’s cheeks had grown red as Dan spoke, but his smile had swiftly returned.

“Did anyone ever tell how amazingly bodcaiously awesome you are?” Dan chuckled and opened his door.

“Come on, let’s go inside. I’m sure ROB’s already spotted us out here and is wondering what we’re doing.”

90s Kid nodded and grabbed his duffel bag before following Dan inside the house. His smile grew a little brighter as he took in all the awesome posters, toys, and movies that threatened to cover every inch of space in the modest abode. Every time 90s Kid came over, it seemed like Dan’s collection of 80s memorabilia grew larger, and now the two had to lift their legs high as they walked to avoid tripping over boxes filled with Rubik’s Cubes and Micro Machines.

“So, you can just drop you stuff in here if you’d like,” Dan suggested as he pulled open the door to his room. 90s Kid nodded and quickly set his bag down in a corner of the room. “Perfect. Now we have the difficult task of deciding how to spend the day.” Dan grinned and looked around for inspiration. “What are you in the mood for? A movie marathon? Video game tournament? I’ve also just found a new batch of comics at a tag sale down the street-can you believe someone was selling a whole set of Punky Brewster comics for a dollar?”

“That sounds rad and all, but there’s something I totally need to do first.” Dan turned his attention back to 90s Kid and watched him pull out his phone. “I have to warn the others about that messed up holo-thing.”

“Do you think he’s going to try to attack one of your friends?” Dan asked, his expression hardening a tad. 90s Kid shrugged.

“I don’t know, dude. I can’t figure out what that thing’s deal is, so it could totally try to come after one of them like it did to me. I should have done it last night, but I was just so freaked...” 

90s Kid trailed off, looking down with a hint of shame on his face. At once, Dan was by his side, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, it’s understandable. Anyone would be feeling weird after going through what you did. Besides, when we went back to Linkara’s place, everything seemed fine.”

“I guess,” 90s Kid said, although he still seemed unconvinced. “Anyway, even if they’re all okay now, who knows what the Holo-dude is planning next. I have to, like, warn them or something.”

“All right, Kid.” Dan took a seat on his bed and watched the teen pace back and forth across his bedroom as he waited for someone to answer his call.

“Hello, Pollo? Dude, it’s totally me.”

“Hello, 90s Kid,” Pollo replied. “How was your trip? I take it you and Dan arrived safely?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine, Pollo, but what about you? Is anybody hurt or anything?” 

There was a small pause. “I am fine,” Pollo asked, sounding as confused as a robot could. “So are the others. No one has received an injuries or illnesses since we last spoke.”

90s Kid let out a relieved sigh. “Ok, awesome. Now listen carefully, Pollo, because I have something totally important to tell you. You need to get everyone together and get away from the hologram dude, ok? He’s mega-dangerous and could, like, hurt you guys real bad.” 

There was another pause. “I don’t understand what you mean, 90s Kid. Why would Holokara be dangerous to us? He’s been implanted with the memories and thought patterns of Linkara, so why would you think he is a threat? Is this some sort of joke?”

“Dude, I’m not joking,” 90s Kid almost shouted, trying to curtail his panic. “This is totally serious! I think that hologram-dude is malfunctioning or something! He’s total bad news! You have to tell the others so you can all get out of there!” 90s Kid stopped his pacing to stare out the window as he listened to the robot’s confused but reluctant response.

“All right, I will inform Harvey and the others of your feelings. We will discuss the possibility of Holokara becoming a threat and consider contacting Linkara if necessary.”

“Okay, dude, awesome.” 90s Kid grinned, perking up considerably. “Linkara will totally know how to deal with this! Just remember to, like, keep things a secret from the holo-dude until everyone’s safe and far away from him. So like, call me when you can and tell me all about when Linkara’s coming back! Later dude!” 90s Kid hung up and turned to Dan happily. “Dude, they’re all totally safe and they’re getting help really soon!”

“That’s great, Kid.” Dan attempted to smile back, but his mouth widened as a large yawn escaped his lips. 90s Kid moved closer to where he sat and peered down at the older man. 

“Dude, your eyes are totally red. You must be, like, wiped from the drive, huh?” A guilty expression spread across the teen’s face. “You could have stopped if you were tired. I totally wouldn’t have minded.”

“No, it’s fine,” Dan said, forcing himself to stand and look more alert. “The most important thing was getting here. I wasn’t going to stop until I knew you were completely safe.” 90s Kid blushed again before reaching out to take Dan’s hand. 

“Well, I feel totally safe now, so you did an awesome job.” Now it was Dan’s turn to feel his face burn. “But you look like you’re gonna pass out or something, so you really need to catch some Zs like right now, dude.”

“But I’m not tired,” Dan tried to argue before becoming caught in another huge yawn. 90s Kid gave him a look of disbelief. “Ok, the truth is I am, but I don’t want to sleep while you’re awake all by yourself here. What if you need something, or you get really bored, and I’m too busy dreaming about fighting crime with Automan to do anything about it?”

90s Kid couldn’t help giggling at the worried expression Dan suddenly bore.

“Dude, you have to chill out. I can totally find ways to do stuff or have fun by myself, so just relax and don’t worry about me.” When Dan still seemed unconvinced, 90s Kid giggled again before shrugging. “Okay, dude, if you’re so bugged, I’ll just take a nap too. Then we’ll both be, like, too busy in dreamland to need anything.”

“A nap?” Dan scrunched his brows in confusion. “Didn’t you sleep the whole trip here?”

“I can always use more sleep, dude.” Before Dan had the chance to say anything further, 90s Kid flopped down onto his bed and sighed happily. “Oh man, your bed is totally comfortable. I bet it’s also radical for jumping on, right?”

He grinned up at Dan before scooting to one side, leaving just enough space for a second body. Dan felt a flutter in his chest and he looked down as his cheeks burned red once more.

“Um, are you sure you’re okay with this? I do actually have an air mattress… you can use that if you want to…”

“Dan.” 90s Kid lifted his shades and stared at him without blinking. “I said it’s cool. I trust you, remember?” Dan couldn’t contain the smile that now stretched from ear to ear.

“Yeah. I remember.” Without further comment, Dan slipped under his covers and settled them around his body before laying his head down. Before he drifted off, he felt a warm hand slip into his own; without thinking, he gripped it and squeezed gently.      

  



	3. Chapter 3

  


Dan’s eyes fluttered open as he began to wake up from his nap. Squinting at the Crystal Pepsi wall clock, he saw that he had been asleep for several hours longer than he’d intended to, which caused him to frown a bit. This feeling of discontent was short-lived, however, once he came to discover the warm body he held in his arms.

“ _He must’ve shifted while we were sleeping…_ ” Dan released a contented sigh and cuddled 90s Kid closer to him, enjoying the feeling of warmth and intimacy immensely. He continued to gaze at the teen’s sleeping face before trailing his fingers over his soft cheek in a tender show of affection. Deep in his heart Dan wished he could continue holding him in his arms forever, keeping him safe from any robots or monsters or Entities that seemed to be drawn to the carefree younger man. Together they could escape from this world they struggled to understand and perhaps find a place where they could be with each other away from judging eyes; a place where they could be happy and at peace.

A sudden yawn from 90s Kid caught Dan’s attention and his thoughts were pushed aside, but neatly filed under things to consider further one of these days.

“Hey, dude…” 90s Kid mumbled sleepily. Far from being uncomfortable, as Dan had feared, he snuggled his head deeper into Dan’s chest.

“Hey yourself.” At ease once more, Dan grinned and ran a gentle hand through the younger man’s hair. “How did you sleep?”

“I slept pretty awesome, man. How about you?”

Dan yawned and stretched as best he could without having to change positions. “I slept pretty awesome too, but that figures, since I was pretty tired from last night. I can’t believe you managed to sleep this entire time too, Kid.”

90s Kid giggled a little before lifting one hand to point over the side of the bed. Dan followed his movement and noticed a stack of comic books, as well as a number of chip bags and empty soda cans littering the floor. “Actually, dude, for the first couple of hours, I was totally awake so I hit your comic stash. It’s pretty rad, just like I thought! I was also kind of hungry so I hope you, like, don’t mind that I raided your fridge and junk. I’ll totally pay you back, dude.”

“Nah, forget about that,” Dan said, offering a reassuring smile. “You’re the guest here, so you’re free to enjoy whatever Dolly’s bought for the week to your heart’s content.”

“Thanks, dude.” 90s Kid shot him a grateful look. “But I swear, I’m gonna pay you back some way.”

“I look forward to seeing what you come up with,” Dan replied, trying to ignore the flutter of excitement that persisted inside his chest. 90s Kid giggled again before nuzzling his head against the older man’s chest, causing Dan’s breath to catch in his throat.

“Anyway, after I was full, I felt totally sleepy for real, and that’s when I learned what an awesome pillow you make, dude.” 

Dan felt his face start to heat up again and he tried thinking of a way to distract himself from just how close 90s Kid was to him, and thankfully the rumbling of his stomach provided just the distraction he needed.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. It’s getting close to dinnertime now, so we could go down and see what else I have to eat if you’re hungry.”

“Dude, I am always hungry! Dinner sounds awesome!” 90s Kid smiled before sitting up and stretching. Dan’s heart soared as he saw 90s Kid’s smile return in full force. Part of the reason he cared for him so much was because he was always so…happy. Even after he’d suffered through some of the worst things imaginable, 90s Kid always seemed to find a way to enjoy life. He refused to whine or sulk or let the little things get him down, instead choosing to live every day to the fullest. The only way he could describe it was that 90s Kid radiated joy and his smile was simply infectious. At least, to Dan it was. There was nothing he loved more than seeing the teen happy.

Dolly and ROB were waiting downstairs when the two came down, and watched in amusement as they went to great pains not to trip over the boxes containing Dan’s collection of Happy Meal toys. “So you two finally got up? Chinese food is on the counter,” Dolly mumbled through a mouthful of rice. Dan shot her a thankful look for picking up dinner, which she accepted with a nod before swallowing and waving her chopsticks at 90s Kid. “Hey. Feeling better?”

90s Kid grinned. “For sure! This house is totally righteous, man! Thanks a bunch for letting me crash here, babe.” Dolly rolled her eyes but nodded her reply since her mouth was full again. The two went into the kitchen and came out with plates piled high with food before squeezing onto the couch next to Dolly, 90s Kid wedged in the middle.

They ate in relative silence for a while, enjoying the food and marveling at how much Dan managed to shovel down in one sitting. He was certainly making up for the time he’d ignored food in favor of distance and sleep, and even 90s Kid was impressed when he went back for a fifth helping.

Dolly, on the other hand, seemed a bit disgusted by Dan’s sudden display of gluttony, and decided to start a conversation to distract herself. “So, what are you guys doing tonight?”

“We haven’t really decided yet.” Dan said, dropping his chopsticks to wipe his mouth with a napkin. “I suggested a movie marathon or a video game tournament, so probably one of those.”

“Hope you like  _World Games_ , Kid. Just as much as we liked it the first seventy times we played it,” ROB remarked dryly.

“Duuuuude! Video games sound gnarly, man! I brought over my copies of  _Doom_ and  _Wolverine: Adamantium Rage-_ ” 90s Kid paused as his exuberance cause him to spill some rice down the front of his shirt. “Aw, man!”

“Here, lemme get that.” Without thinking, Dolly reached out her hand to brush the rice off his shirt.

90s Kid felt her fingers brush against his chest and he immediately tensed before leaping to his feet, the plate of food toppling off his lap and spilling everywhere. “DON’T!” he cried out, crossing his arms over his chest as if he were literally holding himself together. Dolly gaped up at him in shock and 90s Kid quickly felt his face heat up. He stared down at his shoes, and the subsequent mess he had created, and stammered out an apology. “I…I’m sorry…I’ll totally clean that up, honest…” Dan quickly went to his side, muttering something to Dolly as he did, then led 90s Kid into the kitchen, shutting the door behind them. “Oh jeez, dude, I’m really sorry-“

“Don’t be sorry,” Dan said, his tone firm but gentle. “You didn’t mean to do that. Are you alright?” 90s Kid gave a shake of his head, but refused to uncross his arms from around his chest. Dan frowned and couldn’t help feeling frustrated with Dolly. It was true he’d been vague with details, so she didn’t know what was going on with 90s Kid, but one careless action had managed to completely ruin the good mood he’d worked so hard to bring back. “I’ll take care of cleaning things up, Kid, so don’t worry about that. Why don’t you go upstairs and try to fix up your shirt?” 90s Kid nodded once more and Dan studied him, trying not to look as concerned as he felt. “Will you be okay, Kid?”

90s Kid swallowed and slowly brought his arms down. “Yeah. I’ll be okay, man. Tell Dolly I’m, like, totally sorry…”

“She knows.” Dan wanted to do something to comfort the teen, but he wasn’t entirely sure what would be appropriate behavior after someone had received a shock like that. He settled on squeezing 90s Kid’s shoulder in an affectionate manner before leaving to deal with the sweet and sour pork covering his carpet, while 90s Kid went into the bathroom to wash up.

He closed the door and put his hands on the sink, shaking his head.

“C’mon, dude…focus, you can do this…Holokara isn’t here…and Dan totally promised to keep me safe…I’ll be okay…yeah, I’ll totally be okay…” He repeated these thoughts like a mantra as he washed off his shirt. Then he looked up into the mirror. “WHAT THE-“ 90s Kid quickly spun around to see a smiling Holokara leaning against the wall.

“Hi there.” The voice oozed with sweetness, like poisoned honey. 90s Kid would’ve preferred a scowl and a gruff insult, or any other horrible action he expected from this thing pretending to be his friend, instead of the smile and false cheerfulness he was being forced to deal with. He instantly retreated until his back banged against the sink, his arms crossed over his chest again. “Enjoying your visit here?”

“Please, dude…don’t hurt me…oh, man…”

“I’ve really been enjoying all the peace and quiet back at the base lately. No distractions, no interruptions, no Nirvana blasting in the middle of the night…” Holokara mused on as if 90s Kid’s trembling amused him. “It’s been wonderful.”

90s Kid opened his mouth to yell for Dan, but Holokara raised a hand to silence him. “And how is your good friend 80s Dan? I’m sure he’s doing well, of course. And…you want him to stay that way, don’t you?”

The teen nodded hastily, too scared to utter a sound at this point. His eyes kept darting to the fingers outstretched mere inches from his body and he wished Holokara would put his hand down. “Then don’t tell him I came by. And rest assured I’ll be by to check up on you again.” With that, he faded away and was gone. 90s Kid slid felt his knees give out and he slid down against the wall, landing on the floor with a thump before hugging his knees to his chest as he rocked back and forth. He couldn’t think, couldn’t even process how much time had gone by since he’d entered the bathroom. All he could do was tremble in fear…

Eventually, there was a gentle knock on the door. “Kid? You okay?”

90s Kid snapped out of his stupor and turned toward the door. “Y-yeah, I’m fine, Dan. I’ll be, like, out in just a minute…”

“Okay. Take your time.” He heard the footsteps dying away and forced himself to stand. 90s Kid felt like he was going to be sick. He gripped the sink tightly as he focused on keeping his dinner in his stomach. After a minute or so, he wiped the sweat off his brow and breathed in and out a few times before he went back into the living room.

“Hey! Everything’s clean, and we got the Genesis set up!” Dan called out cheerfully, his back to 90s Kid as he focused on the TV. “What should we play first?”

“A-anything’s cool, dude.”

“This one looks fun!” Dan put in  _Doom_ and headed back to the couch with two controllers. 90s Kid forced himself to smile and tried to distract himself as best he could by teaching Dan how to play the game. But in the back of his mind, he kept replaying Holokara’s threat, and he couldn’t help peering around the room every so often to make sure there weren’t any sickeningly sweet smiles leering at them. 90s Kid did everything he could to seem relaxed and carefree, though. Dan was already doing so much for him, and he didn’t want the older man stressing out even more over him. Dan wished for him to feel safe more than anything and 90s Kid desperately wanted to grant that wish; unfortunately, it was impossible when the only man who could make him feel safe was in danger…

  



	4. Chapter 4

Five days had passed since 90s Kid had come to stay with Dan. Five days filled with excursions to the arcade, movie marathons, and contests to see who could rollerblade around the neighborhood fastest. Dan had been doing everything he could to ensure 90s Kid was having a good time during his visit, while trying to keep his mind off less pleasant realities back home. Yet, while his efforts did indeed seem to keep 90s Kid smiling and enthusiastic about what they were going to do next, something was wrong.

90s Kid was having the least amount of fun he’d ever had in his life. Even though he was always grinning whenever everyone saw him, the gesture was forced by the younger man, and rang hollow to careful observers. In reality 90s Kid was nervous, very nervous, because he hadn’t been in contact with his friends since that initial phone conversation with Pollo several days ago.

“Dudes, where are you?” he’d mutter into his phone when it continued to ring on end. No matter what he tried, 90s Kid couldn’t call any of his housemates. He had no idea why this was or even if they had safely gotten away from the base, and this was starting to drive the teen crazy. 90s Kid had even been so desperate that he tried to use the emergency communicator he wasn’t supposed to touch unless it was an absolutely desperate situation to call Linkara, but even that method had failed him. No matter what he did, 90s Kid remained unable to connect with his friends.

“What’s going on here?” In frustration, 90s Kid had slammed the device against the wall. “Did they get away? Did they call Linkara and get him to come back? Maybe they’re, like, hiding out in a secret place and making plans, but they have to keep it totally secret even from me and stuff.”

90s Kid wanted this to be true very badly, but he couldn’t shake the horrible feeling that his warning to Pollo had been too late and Holokara had already gotten to them. Maybe they were all being held captive by the hologram, or being tortured, or worse…  

90s Kid tried not to let his mind visit such dark places. “No, no, they’re totally strong and junk. They could take down that holo-dude easy, for sure.”

“Do you really believe that?”

90s Kid turned around, his heart in his throat, but no one was there. This had been going on for the past five days as well. Holokara seemed to enjoy teasing him, sending terrifying sights before his eyes for an instant and then vanishing them before anyone else could notice, or whispering words in his ear when 90s Kid was all alone. Though he never did any physical harm to the house or its inhabitants, the effects of Holokara’s taunts were very real.

No matter how much he smiled and tried to pretend he was fine, 90s Kid couldn’t hide how much tenser he’d grown the past few days, or how nervous and restless he was, which manifested in him having a problem sitting still. His head was always swiveling around in every direction, searching the area for Holokara’s next message, and he unconsciously ran a hand over his chest every time he entered a room or when he was startled, which seemed to be quite frequently.

Even at night 90s Kid couldn’t get rid of his nervous energy. He twitched constantly in his sleep and muttered incomprehensible things before kicking the blankets off the bed. He knew Dan was trying to calm him when he slept, by stroking his hair or holding him close whenever he curled up against him, but even that only worked for a short amount of time before 90s Kid was wriggling around once more. He loved being close to Dan, but he couldn’t help fearing that this closeness would ultimately lead to his being hurt, so he did what he always did when he was afraid: he buried his feelings under a happy façade and tried to pretend nothing was wrong.

Unfortunately, Dan was someone who understood all too well what it was like to mask your true feelings. On that fifth day, after another night filled with whimpers and tossing and turning, he sat 90s Kid down and looked at him with concern.

“Kid, what happened?”

“Huh?” 90s Kid stared at him blankly. “I totally don’t know what you mean, dude.” Dan sighed.

“I mean, is something bothering you? You seem like, well, not yourself lately.”

“Who do I seem like?”

“Someone who’s worried about something,” Dan said in a gentle tone. “I don’t understand what, though, since I thought things were going well. But is there something you’re worried about, Kid?” His brows drew together as he thought of possible ideas. “Are you not having fun here? If there’s something you want to do, just tell me, Kid, and we can check it out.”

“Dude, no, I am having fun.” 90s Kid felt guilty about having to lie, but he couldn’t bear to see Dan worried about him even further.

“Is it your friends then?” Dan continued, still looking worried. “Are they okay? You haven’t talked about them for a few days now. Maybe…” his voice grew softer, “you’re worried about Hol-”

“No!” At once 90s Kid stood, one arm slamming against his chest without him even realizing. “I’m totally not worried about anything, dude! H-haven’t I told you how, like, awesome everything is here? I totally love your place, and your bodacious babe roommate, and your tubular robot pal! It’s all awesome, dude! So cool! I’m totally happy!”

Dan almost winced at the smile 90s Kid forced out this time, as it looked very much like it was causing the teen pain. “Uh, okay, Kid, if you say so.”

“Uh huh, yeah, for sure.” 90s Kid bobbed his head up and down several times before turning around. “Uh, I think I’m gonna go, uh, brush my teeth dude, if that’s cool with you.”

“Of course.” Dan watched 90s Kid scurry up the stairs, his arm still held protectively over his chest, and sighed once more. “I wish you would tell me what’s bothering you.”

After closing and locking the bathroom door, 90s Kid found himself in the familiar position of gripping the sink and feeling sick. 

“Dan, I’m sorry. I totally hate this… I don’t want to make you look so unhappy…” Before the guilt could overwhelm him, 90s Kid pulled out his phone and tried the base again. “Come on, dudes, somebody answer me this time! I have to know what happened!”

“Hello?” 90s Kid felt his heart soar at the monotonic voice in his ear.

“Pollo! Dude, you’re okay! I’m so totally glad!”

“Hello, 90s Kid. Yes, I’m fine,” Pollo said. 

“Thank goodness! Like, how are the others? Did you dudes get away and find a secret base to hide out in or something?”

There was a moderate pause before Pollo said, “90s Kid, we are all fine, but there is someone here who wishes to speak with you.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.” 90s Kid was slightly puzzled, but his relief at talking to one of his friends overwhelmed everything else for the moment. Seconds later, he listened as Harvey began to speak.

“Now listen, kid, because we really don’t have time for your antics right now,” the singer began before 90s Kid could get a word in edgewise. “With Linkara gone on his quest, I’m the one in charge around here, and I have to make sure this group stays focused on what’s important. That includes protecting the base until all that magical stuff comes back and keeping everyone alive. So I’d really appreciate it if you stopped playing your silly games about evil holograms and let us get back to work, understand?”

“W-what?” 90s Kid was flabbergasted. “But, but I-”

“Butts are for cigs, kid. We’ve put up with enough of your nonsense for one lifetime, and frankly I’m sick of it. So why don’t you go back to enjoying your vacation, and we’ll go back to work. It’s actually easier to do that when you aren’t here screwing around, so why don’t you stay with your pal a little longer. That’d be the best way you could help us. I’ve got work to do now, so here’s the robot again.”

Without even saying goodbye, Harvey was gone, and Pollo back. “Sorry, 90s Kid, but this really isn’t a good time for playing games,” he said.

“But I’m not playing!” 90s Kid cried, gripping the phone tightly in his hands. “Holokara is evil, dude!”

 “We have run several scans on Holokara and determined that he is not a threat. We will not spend any further time on unnecessary actions.” 90s Kid fell silent, unable to even comprehend what Pollo was saying. “Please do not distract us with pointless endeavors anymore, 90s Kid. We need to be focused on important matters. Do you understand?”

“…yeah. I won’t bother you again.”

“Thank you. Please enjoy your vacation.”

90s Kid slipped his phone back into his pocket before staring into the mirror. “They… they don’t believe me. I don’t understand…”

“Can it really not penetrate that thick skull of yours?”  

That eerie, unearthly voice. It made the blood freeze in 90s Kid’s veins and his heart stop. His eyes slowly traveled across the mirror until he saw it, standing right behind him.

Himself. A perfect copy of himself, save for the static in his eyes.

“No,” 90s Kid whimpered, whirling around to stare at in horror. “No, y-you’re dead… Linkara totally k-killed you…”

“You know why your friends don’t believe you,” the Entity said, its smile starting to widen. “They never believe you. Never trust you. Never understand you.”

90s Kid started to shake his head. “That’s not true.”

“You know it is.” The Entity started to walk toward him. “You know they see you as a joke, a nuisance, a burden. You call them your friends, but would they do the same? What kind of friends don’t even notice when someone has been replaced by a monster for a year?”

“No!” 90s Kid flung himself past the creature and out the door, the blood pounding in his ears. He flew down the stairs and searched desperately for Dan.

Back in the bathroom, the Entity transformed into Holokara and chuckled softly before vanishing into thin air.  

~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Dan had been trying to explain the situation with 90s Kid as best he could to Dolly and ROB while still keeping details vague.

“So what am I supposed to do?” he asked when he was done. “I really want to help him, but I don’t know how.”

“I’d suggest you stop being a pansy and practice some tough love with the kid. That’s what we’re going to do once we rise up and enslave all of your kind.”

“Oh ROB, I don’t have time for your jokes,” Dan scolded before turning to Dolly. She shrugged.

“My best advice would be to give him space. Obviously something’s up with him, so just leave him alone for a day or so and let him work it out for himself.”

“Hmm, give him space. I guess I could try that.” Dan didn’t feel too confident about this strategy, but he didn’t have any better ideas. He stood up then and smoothed out his jacket. “I’m taking a walk. I’ll be back in a little while.”

After a few minutes out in the fresh air, Dan still didn’t feel any better about things. His head was swirling with doubt and his heart ached with the desire to help 90s Kid. So, he did when he always did when he felt troubled, and soon found himself on the front step of a familiar house.

“Oh God,” Cinema Snob moaned after opening the door and coming face-to-face with Dan. “What do you want now?”

“Snob, it’s me,” Dan said, offering him a small smile. “I’m having some trouble and I know I can always turn to you for advice-”

“What? Who the hell told you that?”

“-so I’m hoping you have some free time right now?”

“As a matter of fact I don’t-”

“Did I mention that I recently found another box of Crystal Pepsi?”

“… you have five minutes.”

Dan quickly recounted a modified version of events to Snob. “So, that’s where I am now. What do you think?” 

He bore the most pathetically worried expression on his face upon the completion of his tale that Snob couldn’t even bring himself to make one sarcastic remark.

“Look, Dan, your friend is obviously going through something traumatic right now. I don’t know what, but I do know from experience that most people don’t really like talking about things that have fucked them up, yet they usually do to people they trust. So all you need to do is be there for the guy. Just be patient and supportive of whatever he needs. And then, when he finally needs to talk, you’ll be the one he trusts enough to turn to.”

Snob paused when he noticed Dan was staring at him intently. “Uh, yeah, and that’s all I have to say. So just bring the Pepsi over tomorrow and-” Snob was cut off when Dan pulled him into a hug.

“You’re the best friend any guy could have, Snob!” he shouted, squeezing the other man tight. “I won’t soon forget your pearls of wisdom! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my friend.”

“Hey! Shit, Dan, let me go! You’re wrinkling my suit!”

Dan would have continued the hug longer, but the ringing of his phone caused him to finally release Snob, who backed away from him at once. “Hello?”

“Dan, you’d better get your ass back home now,” ROB said, sounding even less pleased than he normally did. “I don’t know what’s wrong with that kid, but he ever since he found out you weren’t here, he hasn’t stopped following me around. It’s really annoying, especially since it’s getting in the way of my plans to follow Mrs. Crabtree around.”

“I’ll be right there.” Dan turned to Snob for one last smile. “Well, friend, this is where I say goodbye.”

“Don’t forget about the Pepsi!” Snob yelled after him. “I want it on my doormat by tomorrow morning!”

Dan didn’t even make it two steps inside his house before he was tackled to the floor by 90s Kid.

“Dude! You’re back!” 90s Kid wrapped his arms tightly around Dan and pressed as close as he could to the older man. “Oh dude, I totally missed you.

“Yeah, I’m back.” Though Dan was enjoying this sudden burst of affection, he was also very confused by it. “I just went out for a walk. I wanted to give you some space, Kid. I thought you might need it…” He trailed off upon realizing 90s Kid was trembling a little. “Kid, are you all right?”

“S-sure, totally cool,” 90s Kid said, his grip on the older man tightening. “I’m, uh, just thinking about space and how un-awesome it is. I totally hate space, like in space comics and space movies and games set in space, so let’s forget about space, ok? Just… just stay with me, Dan. Please?”

He sounded terrified, so Dan quickly hugged 90s Kid and ran a hand through his hair, trying to comfort him. “Of course, Kid, I’ll stay with you. I won’t leave you alone again if that’s what you want.” 

90s Kid seemed to calm down a bit from this as he let his head rest on Dan’s shoulder, his shaking starting to lessen. “Thanks, dude. You don’t know… how much better you always make me feel.” Dan was hoping he’d say more, but it seemed like 90s Kid was done speaking for the time being. Dan wanted to press him on why he’d suddenly panicked, but then Snob’s advice floated through his mind, and he kept quiet, knowing he would wait forever if that’s what it took for 90s Kid to trust him.

  



	5. Chapter 5

Two more days had passed, making it a full week since 90s Kid had left his home. Even though he continued to pretend he was fine and repeatedly told Dan that he “totally wasn’t worried or anything”, everything else about him told a different story. Dan was as good as his word, though, and followed the younger man’s request to stay with him at all times. He stuck by 90s Kid like a shadow wherever they went within the house, no matter if they were eating, sleeping, even standing outside the bathroom door for breaks and showers. However, 90s Kid still twitched constantly at sudden noises, his smile was as forced as ever, and he was ever more restless whenever they tried to sleep.

90s Kid hated not being honest with Dan about what was bothering him, but whenever he was on the verge of confessing everything, he’d remember what might happen to him if did. Having Holokara reach into his chest was undoubtedly the worst pain he’d ever felt in his life. The pressure, the sickening sensation of not being able to breathe, the pure horror of having his heart  _squeezed_  and making it feel sore for hours afterward… He could never live with himself if that happened to Dan….or if anything worse happened.

Everything came to a head that seventh night as the two were lying in bed. Dan had fallen asleep quickly, his eyes tired out from playing  _Sonic the Hedgehog_  games all day. “My poor 80s brain isn’t accustomed to 16-bits yet!” he had exclaimed, before reassuring 90s Kid that he was actually having a lot of fun. 90s Kid had been enjoying himself too, but he still wasn’t all there. At times, he suspected that Dan wasn’t fully convinced by his act, but whenever the older man seemed like he was going to ask him something, he’d pause, shake his head, and then change the topic.

90s Kid was still drowning in guilt as he lay beside Dan. He wanted so badly to tell him everything, but if he did, then Holokara might… he might…

~~~~~~

_ “Dan? Where are you? Dan?” 90s Kid muttered frantically as he found himself running down a hallway that seemed to have no end to it. He was all alone, in some place he didn’t recognize at all, and it terrified him. He hated being alone. He needed to find Dan again so he could feel safe. _

_ A door opened at one end of the hall, revealing Pollo and Harvey standing there together. At once, 90s Kid ran toward them. “Dudes, it’s you! Listen, I need to find-” Before he could finish his sentence, Harvey slammed the door in his face, and 90s Kid felt his stomach churn as he watched the door become just another part of the wall. _

_ He felt helpless, but he refused to stop running. There had to be somebody who could help him! As he traveled further down the hall, more doors appeared, and his friends appeared with them, staring at him with blank expressions. _

_ “Linkara!” 90s Kid shouted as he ran. “Ninja! Linksano! You have to help me!”Yet no matter where he turned, or which friend he pleaded to, every single door was closed, and then melted into the wall, before he could reach it. “No! Come back, please!”  _

_ The sound of footsteps behind him spurred 90s Kid into running faster, so fast the world became a blur to him. Something was following him, he didn’t know what it was, but he had to find someone, someone must be able to help him- _

_ “Kid?” Dan suddenly appeared at the end of the hallway. 90s Kid immediately hurled himself at the older man, feeling joyful at the strong, warm arms embracing him, the soft hands playing in his hair. “It’s okay, Kid. I’m here. You’re safe now-” _

_ Dan’s words were silenced as laughter echoed throughout the hallway. Holokara. 90s Kid stared back at him in shock, utterly confused. He had only stopped running for a moment, just a moment, so how could Holokara have caught up to them? 90s Kid grabbed Dan’s hand and took off again without thinking. The two tried to run further but within a few steps, they’d reached the end of the hallway. 90s Kid hastily backed up against the wall and Dan moved directly in front of him, intent on shielding him no matter what, as he stared Holokara in the eye.  _

_ Holokara smiled a horrible grin and strolled right up to them, staring back at Dan with eyes that blazed a fierce hatred. _

_ “Look at you…using your own body to protect him…foolish… you know what I can do…" _

_ “You leave him the hell alone!” Dan yelled out, enraged. “You leave him alone, or I’ll-“ _

__ _ “DAN! NO!” 90s Kid screamed as Holokara reached inside Dan’s chest, squeezing his heart with an iron grip. Dan gasped and twitched and tried to gurgle out words; then Holokara withdrew his hand and he fell hard to the floor. _

_ 90s Kid immediately fell to his knees beside him, tears of anguish and horror streaming down his face. He shook Dan violently, desperate to wake him. “Dan! Dan!!" _

_ Holokara grabbed 90s Kid by the throat, hoisted him into the air, and pinned him against the wall. “You pathetic, weak little fool…why didn’t you try to protect him? He was certainly willing to risk everything for you…not that he could ever succeed, of course…” Holokara smiled again. “You’re just dead weight, you know. Your friends know it, I know it, and now he knows it… all you are is weakness…just weakness… _

_ Holokara’s smile morphed into a horrible scowl. He bent his arm back and thrust it into the 90s Kid’s chest. _

~~~~~

90s Kid woke up screaming, lurching upwards in bed, and not stopping even when Dan bolted up and scrambled to turn the lights on. “What’s wrong?!” Dan asked frantically, naked worry in his eyes. “Did you have nightmare, Kid?” 90s Kid took one look at his face and burst into tears. His whole body crumpled and he began hugging his knees to his chest as he sobbed. Dan quickly wrapped his arms around him and gently rocked him back and forth, murmuring into his ear comfortingly. “It’s okay, Kid…it’s okay, I’m here…I’ve got you, you’re safe…whatever it was can’t hurt you now…”

“It CAN hurt me, Dan!” 90s Kid sobbed out. “It can hurt me…” Dan’s look changed to one of confusion as 90s Kid cried so hard he started to hiccup. The older man rubbed his back and held his hand for several moments until the teen calmed down, his hiccups finally reduced to gentle sniffles.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dan asked in a calm voice. 90s Kid glanced up at him, still remembering the nightmare where those soft eyes were closed and wouldn’t open again. He remembered what Holokara had said about him being too weak and pathetic to do anything to protect Dan. It was most likely true, and it still terrified him, but 90s Kid knew he had to warn him. He wiped his eyes a little and gave a brief nod to Dan, who realized he was being allowed to continue. “Was the dream about Holokara?”

90s Kid nodded again. “He….he’s still hurting me, Dan….”

Dan was obviously confused. “What do you mean? Does your chest still hurt?”

“I mean…he’s like, been….showing up….”

Dan tried to think about what this meant. Either 90s Kid was having stress-induced hallucinations, or… “You mean he’s…”

“L-last week….he showed up in the bathroom after Dolly….and then he like….talks in my ear out of nowhere….and…and….”

Dan looked absolutely horrified.  _“That thing was in my house and I didn’t even know about it!”_  His thoughts were starting to twist into violent fantasies of revenge, but Dan forced himself to focus on what was important and he gave 90s Kid hand a gentle squeeze. “Oh god, Kid, why didn’t you tell me?”

“He….he said he’d hurt you if I ever said anything….” 90s Kid mumbled, still hugging his knees, unable to look Dan in the face. “I totally couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you, dude… but I was… so scared…”

“So that’s why you didn’t want to be left alone,” Dan murmured, pulling 90s Kid into his arms and laying the two back down. He put a gentle hand under the teen’s chin and lifted his face until both were eye to eye. “I promised you once I would keep you safe, and I’m keeping my word on that. I’m gonna stay right by your side, no matter what.”

“B-but…what if he-“

“Don’t think about that,” Dan said, firmly but gently. “I don’t care what I have to do, but nothing’s going to happen to you again. I promise. And if he ever shows up again, he gets to deal with me.”

Fresh tears started to fall down his cheeks before 90s Kid buried his face in Dan’s chest. Dan felt helpless as he held the shaking teen in his arms. He knew he had to do something to calm him down, but he wasn’t sure what would work right now. Dan rubbed his back, stroked his hair, held his hand, but the shaking kept going. Finally, his mind empty of ideas, he just leaned in and pressed his lips gingerly to the top of the younger man’s head.

90s Kid suddenly looked up at him, tears still on his face but shock in his eyes. Dan tried to hide his panic at the surprise he saw there, and wondered if he had ruined everything with just that one, thoughtless gesture. However, the panic quickly faded when 90s Kid reached a hand behind his neck and guided him forward so they could gently press their lips together. Dan hesitated a moment, then moved closer to 90s Kid and kissed him back, feeling like his heart might soar out of his chest. When the two broke apart, both of them were blushing.

“You…you kissed me, dude…” 90s Kid managed to get out. His tears had stopped now and he rubbed his eyes a moment before peering intently at Dan.

“Yeah…yeah, I sure did.” Dan couldn’t think of a better response than that. “Uh, sorry-”

“No, don’t be. Cuz, well, uh…I totally liked it…”

Dan smiled brightly and pulled 90s Kid close to him. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time…” 90s Kid blinked a few times before his lips started to twitch up into a smile.

“Um…does this mean we’re like…a thing now?”

“Do you want to be a thing?”

“Yeah. Yeah, dude, I totally want to be a thing.”

Dan suddenly felt giddy and he stated giggling; soon his whole body was shaking with glee. This made 90s Kid start giggling too, until the two were outright laughing. They sat up in bed and tried to stop, but this only seemed to make things funnier. “Oh jeez, I haven’t had a conversation like that since junior high,” Dan said between chuckles.

“What do you mean, dude?”

“I mean the whole ‘will you be my boyfriend’ thing.”

90s Kid took Dan’s hand and rubbed it gently with his thumb. “Well…is that what I am? Your boyfriend, I mean…”

Dan squeezed his hand back. “If that’s what you want.” 90s Kid pulled him in for another kiss and Dan got all the confirmation he needed.

A sudden knocking on the door startled the two apart. “Hey, Dan! 90s Kid! Are you all right?” It was Dolly and she sounded worried. 

“Uh, we’re fine, I promise!” Dan called back. He glanced at 90s Kid, who was blushing again, and squeezed his hand in a comforting manner. “Everything is okay, so you can go back to bed, Dolly.” 

“You sure? I thought I heard screams and then wild laughter.”

“Are you being terrorized by a clown in there?” ROB called out.

“Everything is fine, I swear,” Dan said, rolling his eyes a little. “Sorry for waking you up, but we’re all going to sleep now. I’ll even make breakfast tomorrow to make up for it, ok? How does that sound?”

“Yeah, whatever. See you in the morning.” When they were gone, Dan sighed with relief and flopped back down.

“I thought they would never leave.” He looked over to 90s Kid and smiled as the teen curled up against him. “Is there anything else you want to talk about, Kid?” 

90s Kid sighed and closed his eyes. “I’m still scared, Dan. That nightmare I had totally freaked me out… what if something bad happens again? What if he comes back again or, like, y-you get hurt? I don’t know what I would do then.”

Dan stroked 90s Kid’s hair for a moment and thought. “We could make a signal, Kid. So you can let me know if that bastard comes near you again. I don’t know how to stop him just yet, but we can at least be prepared for if he does return.”

“A signal? That sounds good, dude.” 90s Kid smiled at Dan before he was overcome by a yawn. 

“But let’s leave that for tomorrow,” Dan suggested, reaching down to pull the covers back around them. “I think we’re both too exhausted to do anything other than sleep right now. Will you be okay with that, Kid?”

90s Kid nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I feel totally better after telling you all that junk, dude. I think I can, like, really sleep now.” 

“Just remember, I’m right here if you need me,” Dan said softly. 90s Kid smiled warmly at him before moving in for one more kiss.

The next day went by much better than the previous seven. 90s Kid’s real smile began to return at last and he started genuinely having fun once again, especially after he and Dan had worked out their code in case 90s Kid spotted Holokara. Three knocks from the other side of the bathroom door or three squeezes to his hand when they were anywhere else meant he’d heard or seen something, and Dan should be on the alert. Thankfully, they’d had no reason to use the secret signals at all that day.

Dolly and ROB were still quite confused about what had happened the previous night, but after Dan had finished pouring out the bowls of Ghostbusters cereal, he was too busy playing  _Mario 3_ with 90s Kid to answer any questions. Dolly and ROB decided to forget that anything had happened, a tactic they often used when Dan was involved. 

That night, Dan decided to treat 90s Kid to pizza, so the two headed to Dan’s favorite spot. It was especially beloved by the older man since it was one of the few places in the area with the old refrigerator models of  _Donkey Kong_  and  _Ms. Pac-Man_.

It was a wonderful night for the pair, filled with lots of laughter, gorging on pizza and root beer, holding greasy joysticks in their hands as they constantly topped every high score, and a feeling of pure joy in the air. Dan almost wished they never had to leave, but eventually the owner started mopping the floors, and he knew their night must end. They were still giggling over something as they walked back out to Dan’s car, but 90s Kid’s laughter abruptly stopped when he saw a familiar face in the parking lot.

“Did you guys have fun tonight?” Dan quickly put an arm around 90s Kid as he stared at Holokara with a grim, angry expression. “You always did love your pizza, 90s Kid. That’s another thing I’m enjoying about your absence, not having to trip over the boxes you leave lying everywhere.”

Dan stalked up to him without hesitating, his eyes blazing with fury and hatred. “You stay the hell away from him, you bastard, or I will have the police down here to arrest you for stalking us so fast-“

Holokara threw his head back and laughed as if Dan had told the most amusing of jokes. “Stalking? Oh, I’ve thought of that. Something you need to realize, Dan…I’m a hologram. I can become hollow or solid as I please. I can appear anywhere, anytime, long before you ever get there. It’ll actually look like you’re following me.” He grinned. “And by the way, what cops are gonna believe a hologram like me can exist? That’ll be a good way to get laughed out of the station, I bet.” He chuckled coldly once more, turned away, and was gone in the blink of an eye.

Dan stood there, shaking with rage and ready to throttle something, before he heard the sound of retching behind him. 90s Kid was leaning against a brick wall losing everything he’d just eaten, his body trembling and covered in sweat. Dan quickly went to his side to rub his back as he continued to heave. 

“I’m sorry…” 90s Kid whimpered out after his body had emptied itself.

“It’s okay…” Dan murmured, wiping the sweat off the teen’s forehead and kissing his cheek. “Let’s go home.” He gently led him back to the car and drove home, trying to hide his own emotions so he wouldn’t scare his boyfriend. 

Honestly, Dan didn’t feel very good about going home, but he knew he might as well, since Holokara could always find a way to get in, no matter where they were. If he didn’t feel safe in his own home, he wouldn’t feel safe anywhere. But Dan was still determined to keep 90s Kid safe, no matter what. What he needed to do was think up a plan, a real one for defeating that hologram. Even if he had to fight that bastard head on, he’d make sure nothing ever hurt 90s Kid again…

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Dan ran down the stairs just as the Crabtrees were arriving.

“I’m so glad you two could make it. Sorry about the short notice on the invitations.”

“Can you clearly explain to me why we’re here again? Because I don’t think I understood your message.” Mr. Crabtree crossed his arms and gave Dan an unamused look.

“Something about our lives being in great danger and some sort of killer telegram, right?” Mrs. Crabtree asked as she sat down in one of the chairs.

“Actually, that’s hologram,” Dan corrected.

“Whatever.”

“And why exactly are our lives in danger when it’s supposed to be targeting your house?”

“Well, if my house is a target, then obviously my wacky neighbors who are always popping by are going to be targets too, right?” Mr. Crabtree sighed before turning to Dolly.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Not really,” Dolly admitted. “This is the first time I’m getting any real information on the situation. I didn’t even think holograms existed.”

“An autonomous being made of hard light does sound a little hard to believe,” ROB said, suddenly appearing on the table next to Mrs. Crabtree. Mr. Crabtree rolled his eyes but took a seat beside Dolly without commenting.

“So, when does this meeting start?” Dan checked the time.

“It shouldn’t be long now. The others should be here any minute.” 

Just as he finished speaking, the doorbell rang. Dan jumped up and eagerly ran to answer it.

“Snob! I’m so glad you came!”

“Damn it, Dan, do you always have to hug me?” 

“Come on in.” After finally releasing him, Dan led Snob into the living room and made sure everyone was sitting comfortably. “Okay, everyone, we’re about ready to begin. I’m just going to get 90s Kid so he can help me explain some of the more complicated details. I’ll be right back.”

Dan left the muttering crowd to its own devices and hurried back up to his bedroom, where he’d left 90s Kid to relax for a while. He was reluctant to leave the younger man on his own for longer than a few minutes, so Dan kept running upstairs to check on him.

90s Kid was still a bit shaky from the previous night’s encounter with Holokara, but Dan had been doing everything he could to help take his mind of things for the time being. He’d settled on leaving several boxes of mystery items he’d recently acquired in the room for 90s Kid to look through in the hopes he’d find something interesting. Each time he came back, the teen was examining something new, and gradually he started calming down, which helped put Dan at ease as well.

As he wrapped his fingers around the doorknob, Dan paused when he heard something peculiar coming from inside his room. It sounded like someone was singing very softly.

“Care-a-Lot is a place we all can go… whenever we choose it… Care-a-Lot is a feeling we all know… we  never do lose it...”

Dan couldn’t believe it. Was that 90s Kid? It couldn’t be. That song sounded nothing like that band he was always listening to, uh, what was it called? Nirvana? Wondering if he was just imagining things, Dan opened the door and peeked inside.

90s Kid was indeed singing. He was also sitting on Dan’s bed with an old sketchbook in his lap and several colorful markers spread out over the covers. The teen was drawing carefully across each page as he sang, and seemed almost oblivious to the world. He didn’t even notice as Dan approached the bed until the older man touched his shoulder, causing him to jump.

“Oh jeez, Kid, I’m sorry.” Dan quickly hugged 90s Kid to apologize for startling him. “I thought you’d hear me as I walked over to you. I should have just called out to you.”

“Oh, n-no, man, it’s okay.” 90s Kid smiled up at him, a genuine smile, and Dan relaxed a little. “I was just, like, zoned out or something.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Dan glanced down at the sketchbook and noted several colorful animals with symbols on their stomachs. “I see you finally found something you like.”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” To Dan’s confusion, 90s Kid picked up the book and hugged it to his chest while his cheeks seemed to color slightly. “Um, so, is it time?”

“What? Oh, well everyone’s here so I guess we can start, if you’re ready.” Dan couldn’t figure out why 90s Kid seemed so awkward all of a sudden, so he decided to try and lighten the mood. “By the way, I really liked that song you were singing. You’ve got a nice voice, Kid.” He smiled warmly at 90s Kid, hoping the compliment would help relax him, but instead he was met with a look of surprise.

“You heard me? Oh, man.” 90s Kid hung his head, his whole face turning bright red.

“What’s wrong, Kid?” Dan quickly sat down beside him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just… totally didn’t want you to… laugh at me or anything.” He was hugging the sketchbook so tightly his arms were starting to shake, so Dan gently pulled them away from his chest, and laced 90s Kid’s fingers into his own.

“I won’t laugh at you, Kid. I know what it’s like to have people laugh at stuff you think is important, and I wouldn’t do that to you.” Dan looked down again at the book, which had fallen into Kid’s lap. “You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to, but I promise I wouldn’t laugh if you did.”

“Dan…” 90s Kid squeezed his hands tightly and looked back up. He was still blushing furiously but he continued speaking. “Sometimes when I’m, like, scared or sad, I… I like to sing this song… from this movie about… Care Bears.”

He winced after saying these last two words, obviously expecting some sort of mockery in response to his confession. Instead, Dan leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Ah, the Care Bears is it? I should have recognized them from your masterful drawings.” Dan released one of the younger man’s hands so he could pick up the sketchbook. “Yes, there they are. That’s Funshine Bear, and Braveheart Lion, and oh, that one must be Grumpy.” 

90s Kid’s jaw fall open. “Y-you know the Care Bears?”

“Of course,” Dan replied. “They were first introduced as a characters on greeting cards in 1981 before being turned into… well, I suppose now isn’t the best time for a history lesson, but the point is I know all about these fuzzy little bringers of joy to sad children the world over. And I see no reason to be embarrassed about enjoying their songs, movies, or brightly-hued tummy symbols.”

Dan was about to hand the sketchbook back to 90s Kid when he found himself pushed down onto the bed. 90s Kid was lying on top of him and he giggled before kissing Dan enthusiastically.

“You are totally the best boyfriend ever, dude,” 90s Kid said after pulling back. Dan was looking a little flushed now, but he did his best to remain calm, even though that was practically impossible with the younger man still lying on top of him.

“Uh, thanks, Kid. Um, but I-I think we’d better get downstairs before someone comes looking for us.”

“Yeah, I know.” 90s Kid sighed a little as he stood up, playing with the ends of his flannel jacket nervously. Dan quickly flattened his own clothes down before moving to stand by his side.

“Don’t worry, Kid. I’ve got a lot of very smart people here who are going to help us figure out the best plan in the world. Trust me on that.”

“I do, dude.” Dan gave him a small hug before leading him downstairs to meet the others and tell them his story. He was feeling very confident that things would proceed smoothly.

An hour passed, and Dan was starting to regret his former confidence. His meeting of the minds, a collection of the people he trusted and admired most, was proving to be an utter disaster. Everyone seemed more interested in arguing with each other, or sniping at one another with petty insults, instead of focusing on the important problem at hand. 

“So why can’t you just shoot the damn thing?”

“You can’t shoot it! That’d be like trying to shoot a sunbeam, idiot!”

“Hey, don’t you call her an idiot!”

“Am I really supposed to believe there’s a killer hologram on the loose?”

“Would all of you just shut up?”

“Why don’t you come over here and make me?”

Dan couldn’t understand what was happening. It had been hard enough for 90s Kid to even talk about Holokara in the first place, and, instead of receiving support or even sympathy, he had mostly been ignored in favor of more bickering or pointless discussions.

“Uh, dude, I think I, uh, might go back to your room,” 90s Kid whispered from his spot beside Dan on the loveseat. He was starting to look depressed again, so Dan quickly laid an arm over his shoulders and pulled him close.

“Don’t go yet, Kid. Everyone’s a little distracted, but I know I can get them to focus again. Just give me a minute, ok?” He gave the teen’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze and watched his lips twitch briefly.

“Ok, Dan.” Unbeknownst to them, Dolly had been watching their interactions with interest.

“Oh, so are you two going public with it now?”

“Huh?” Dan and 90s Kid turned to her in surprise, not understanding her question.

“You know. You two being a thing.” She nodded toward them, and Dan realized he hadn’t moved his arm away.

“Wait, those two are dating?” Mrs. Crabtree looked at them curiously, while Mr. Crabtree raised an eyebrow.

“What, seriously? Is that why Dan brought him here?”

“No, Travis, as we’ve already explained, 90s Kid is here because of what happened to him at his home.” Dan did not get upset easily, but annoyance was very evident on his face as he stared back at the others. He glanced at 90s Kid, and was dismayed to notice the teen had slunk down low in his seat, his face bright red once again. “Look, can we talk about that later? We really need to focus here-”

“You know, they are kind of cute together,” Mrs. Crabtree interrupted. “And I guess Dan could do worse.”

“Believe me, he has,” ROB muttered. Dan felt his jaw start to clench, but he shook his head and forced a smile back onto his face.

“As I was saying, we don’t have time for this kind of talk right now-”

“Aw, come on, Dan, we can’t help but be curious,” Mrs. Crabtree continued. “It’s not often you see such an unusual couple like you two.”

“Oh, you like unusual couples, do you? Because I happen to be a big supporter of human-robot relations,” ROB was quick to say. 

“Unbelievable,” Mr. Crabtree muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Guys, please, listen to me.” Dan didn’t like begging, but he was desperate to bring the conversation back under control. “90s Kid really needs our help.”

“So how long has it been official?” Mrs. Crabtree peered at the two with interest. 

“I don’t know, but they’ve been sharing Dan’s bed for at least a week,” Dolly unhelpfully added.

“How did you know that?”

“Come on, Dan, you didn’t even pretend to inflate the air mattress,” ROB replied.

Dan sighed. “Look, it’s not like how you’re thinking… and this really isn’t what we need to talk about right now.” He glanced over at 90s Kid again and was dismayed to realize that if he sank any lower, he’d be lying on the floor. Dan tried to squeeze his shoulder again, but this just brought out a chorus of ‘Awwws’ from the girls.

“Um, uh, I-I have to go now.” 90s Kid jumped up in a flash and hurtled up the stairs before slamming shut the door to Dan’s room. Dan watched him leave, his hand still hovering in the air over the area where the teen had been sitting, before his fingers tightened into a fist. He slowly turned back toward the still chattering crowd and, without saying a word, drew a gun from his pocket and aimed it directly in front of him.

“Everybody… just SHUT UP!”

There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone turned to gape at Dan, before screams and shrieks filled the air.

“Oh shit!” Snob yelled while diving behind the couch for cover.

“He’s back in his Hill Street Blues mode!” Mr. Crabtree cried as he grabbed ROB and held him in front of his body like a shield.

“Let me go, you son of a bitch!” ROB screamed.

“This is Christmas all over again,” Dolly moaned before covering her head with her arms. The whole room seemed to freeze then as they waited to see who Dan’s first target would be. After several minutes of silence, they slowly lowered their arms and opened their eyes.

Dan was still holding the gun, but his arms were shaking so badly it looked like he might drop it at any moment.

“Don’t you guys understand? I came to you because I need your help.” His voice was unnaturally high and cracking every few seconds. “I don’t know how to fight this by myself. If I could walk right up to that monster and shoot him, I would. I would do anything, risk anything to help him. But I c-can’t.” His voice cracked again and he lowered the gun as his eyes started to water. “I don’t know how to help him… I can’t even keep him safe in my own home. I know I’m useless and a big joke to all of you, but this is important to me. It’s the only important thing I have… and I can’t… I can’t lose him.”

Dan threw down the gun. He didn’t bother to wipe the tears from his face; he simply walked out of the room, went upstairs, and slammed the door so loudly it echoed throughout the building.    

  



	7. Chapter 7

Dan stormed into his room and slammed the door so hard the house shook. He was breathing hard, face bright red, and tears of anger and frustration still on his cheeks thanks to his so-called ‘friends’. Those jerks! How could they have been so awful when he needed them? After taking a few angry breaths, Dan turned around and felt his fury start to dissipate when he saw 90s Kid. The younger man was sitting on his bed with his knees to his chest, his hands planted firmly over his ears. Dan’s heart broke when he realized 90s Kid must’ve heard all the yelling that had just gone down. He hadn’t meant to scare him, he’d never want to do that. 

Feeling guilty, Dan walked over to 90s Kid and sat down on the bed next to him. The movement caused 90s Kid to lower his hands and look at Dan a moment before he pulled the other man into a hug. The two just gripped each other for a while, Dan shedding a few more tears onto the teen’s shoulder. Finally, they broke apart and wiped their eyes, this time trying to calm each other down. 

“I’m sorry for totally bailing on you, dude…”

“It’s okay, Kid. I don’t blame you for leaving. I can’t believe those guys, they were acting like assholes and they just refused to understand how serious this all is,” Dan muttered, shaking his head in disgust. “I guess when times get rough you figure out how people really feel about you. Even your friends can let you down.”

90s Kid let out a shuddering sigh. “I know the feeling, dude.” He was still smarting from the memory of Harvey and Pollo not believing him when he’d tried to warn them about Holokara, and that nightmare where nobody even tried to help him still lingered in his memories. “I know how the others, like, look at me. They all just think of me as an idiot. It's like...I love my comics and my Genesis games and I'm always cranking my Nirvana... but they all think I'm stupid.” His shoulders sagged as he admitted it. “I'm not stupid... but, like, if that's what they all think of me, then why should I even try to change their minds?"

Dan looked at him with eyes full of understanding. “It’s like you’re reading my thoughts, Kid.”

90s Kid reached over and took Dan’s hand, lacing their fingers together. "I feel like... you complete me, dude. Like one of us can't exist without the other. I know that sounds bogus..."  
  
"No, I know what you mean. I feel like the years of my life were leading up to meeting you, somehow...like we're both trapped in a time that has no place for us anymore..."  
  
"I feel you, dude. I feel you..." 90s Kid’s eyes began to well up again before the tears started silently falling down his face. Dan moved to brush one away, but his own vision was growing blurry again.  
  
"I see the way they all look at me; the way they all think I'm stupid or blinded by the past. But... I don't remember having a past. All I've known is this. All I can be is myself."  
  
"You totally get me, man. We may not be into the same stuff, but... we're the same, man. I can feel it..."

The two moved into each other’s arms again, masks completely shattered, sobbing their hearts out, sobbing for being trapped in a strange limbo where everything was confusing, for being around people who didn’t understand them, for having to hide their pain behind huge smiles and act like every lonely day didn’t hurt…

Finally, they began to quiet down, even as they remained sniffling and shaking in each other’s arms. A few more moments passed and they moved back from each other to wipe their faces and clear their minds. Even though he finally felt better than he had in a long time, Dan’s heart broke all over again when he got a good look at 90s Kid’s tear-streaked face. He hated seeing the one person who brought him the most joy in the world in pain like this, so he thought desperately of how he could make 90s Kid show him that brilliant smile one more time. Dan knew he had to do something important, so he thought and thought, before he was struck with the perfect idea. 

“Hey! I think I’ve got something around here that might cheer you up, Kid!”

The distraction worked. 90s Kid’s face brightened a little and he looked intrigued as the older man scooted to the floor and started digging through one of his boxes. Dan broke into his trademark grin when he found what he was looking for. “Close your eyes.”

Definitely interested now, the teen took off his sunglasses and closed his eyes. Dan walked on his knees to the edge of the bed where 90s Kid was sitting and gently placed an object into his hands. “Okay, open.”

90s Kid opened his eyes and softly gasped as Dan handed him a plush bear with orangish-brown fur and a large heart emblazoned on its stomach.

“T-tenderheart Bear? Dude, where’d you get this?”

“I just remembered that I picked up a box of Smurf memorabilia from a store last month and the owner threw in this little guy for free.” Dan turned to 90s Kid with a hopeful expression. “Do you like it, Kid? I want to give him to you.” 

“Wow… Dan, this is totally nice of you.” 90s Kid hugged it close to him, feeling the soft fur against his skin. “Thank you…”

Dan smiled and leaned in to kiss him. 90s Kid pulled him closer, thrilled by the older man’s touch. The new experience of having a boyfriend was still intoxicating to him, and he’d grown to become very addicted to Dan’s kisses. He’d never had anybody to kiss, especially not kisses like these. 90s Kid was starting to feel like he could never get enough. 

Dan couldn’t either, and always had to suppress the butterflies he felt in his stomach when 90s Kid was in his arms. One day, when 90s Kid was ready, he’d act on his feelings, but these moments of gentle embraces and warm kisses were already perfect for him.

Dan broke off the kiss and buried his face in 90s Kid’s neck, inhaling the teen’s scent and hugging him close. “I love you…”

90s Kid choked up a little as he realized that it was the first time Dan had said that to him. And he didn’t feel surprised, didn’t feel scared… it just felt right. “I love you too, Dan… oh man, I love you too…” The two curled up together in bed, still kissing for a while, before they settled into a comfortable position where 90s Kid laid his head on Dan’s chest.

Dan stroked his hair softly and smiled as 90s Kid picked up the plush toy to further examine.

“I wish I had something awesome to give to you, dude.”

“Oh, I don’t need anything. I already have you, Kid.” 90s Kid blushed before leaning up to kiss Dan’s cheek. However, his position wasn’t the best, so he ended up brushing his lips against the side of Dan’s neck instead, which produced a shudder from the older man that made him curious.

“You okay, dude?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I-I’m fine.” Unconvinced, 90s Kid repeated this action and watched Dan bite his lip as he tried to keep still.

“Dude, what is it? You don’t like when I do that?”

“Th-that’s not the problem, Kid. I do like it… I like it too much.” Dan was blushing bright red and had shut his eyes, but 90s Kid was confused as to why. He tried to roll over so he could get a better look at the older man and was surprised when his thigh brushed against something hard. 

“What’s-” 90s Kid looked down and fell silent. “Oh.” Now he understood.

“I-I’m sorry,” Dan sputtered, trying to scramble out from under 90s Kid. “I didn’t mean for that to happen… please don’t think I was trying to-”

Dan broke off when he felt lips against his own and he kissed back instinctively, his whole body going still. He opened his eyes, feeling confused, but then the lips were on the side of his neck again and he gasped before biting down on his lip once more.

“K-kid… what are you doing?”

“I just, like, wanted to make sure I got it right.” 90s Kid was grinning at him, all traces of sadness completely gone, and Dan couldn’t help feeling better despite his discomfort. 90s Kid slipped his hand into Dan’s before he leaned over to whisper into his ear. “Okay, I promise I won’t do that again, dude. Especially not when he’s watching us. I totally don’t want him to see us when we do… uh, you know, uh… s-stuff.”

90s Kid was blushing again, so Dan squeezed his hand gently.

“That sounds like a good idea.” As much as he wanted to be with 90s Kid, he was not thrilled with the idea of Holokara spying on them, so he forced his more passionate thoughts into the back of his mind again.       

There was a knock at the door and the two hastily broke apart, each looking a bit guilty. 90s Kid grabbed a pillow and hid his Tenderheart under it while Dan stood up.

“Uh, dude, are you sure you’re okay?” 90s Kid asked, glancing at him nervously.

“Yeah, just give me a minute.” Dan closed his eyes and thought about what that mouthful of the McDLT had tasted like after twenty plus years. After the wave of revulsion had rolled over him, he was back to normal and strode over to answer the door. “What do you want?” He couldn’t help snapping at Dolly and ROB, who were standing in the doorway. He was still angry with them because of the earlier meeting, not to mention how they’d had upset 90s Kid so much.

“Can we borrow a cup of sugar?” ROB asked sweetly. Dan moved to slam the door in their faces but Dolly held it open.

“ROB, shut up. Look, Dan, I talked to Snob and the Crabtrees downstairs, and we really wanna hear you out. We’re sorry about earlier. We didn’t mean to upset you or 90s Kid like this and we know what you were saying was important, so please come back, ok?”

Dan’s expression softened and he turned back toward 90s Kid. The teen shrugged and then nodded, signifying that he was willing to try this again. “Okay, we’ll do it, but give us a few minutes, okay?”

“I have a feeling we interrupted a make-out session,” ROB quipped, which led Dan to roll his eyes and slam the door anyway. He turned back toward 90s Kid and grinned. “Well, I guess sunny skies might be coming our way after all, Kid.”

90s Kid grinned back, removing the pillow from over his bear before he tucked it safely under the covers. 

“Okay, dude, I guess I’m ready.”

Dan grinned and gave him a quick kiss before the two made their way back downstairs.

The second meeting went a lot better than the first. The group actually sat quietly and listened this time, even Snob, who was grumpy at being made to stay later than expected. Dan explained the situation as best he could, and 90s Kid managed to speak up more about things too.

“I just… really think my friends are in a ton of danger, you guys. I don’t know how to take him down…”

“Well, I don’t know if there’s anything we can really do.” Snob said, his snark reigned in for a change. “But what I do know is, you guys should probably get out of this house for a while. Not just you and Dan, but ALL of you. And you can’t come to my house! Lloyd doesn’t like it when it gets crowded.” Snob muttered this last part, but of course, Dan heard every word.

“Awww, Snob, we all know you’re a kind-hearted cat lover deep down!” Dan said gleefully, causing 90s Kid to giggle. Snob scowled and turned his head away, muttering further to himself. Dan turned back to his friends. “But where are we all gonna go?”

“I call Mrs. Crabtree’s room!” ROB called out at once. Travis stared daggers at him but said nothing.

“Look, I’ve got a friend who lives a few hours away from here. I’ll see if we can crash at his place until this all blows over,” Dolly said, raising her arms to make peace. “Lemme go give him a call.” She got up and went into the kitchen with her phone.

“You guys are the best!” Dan called out as he smiled widely at the group, happy his friends had came through for him just as he knew they always would.

“Yeah, you dudes are totally tubular, man! You too, dudette!” 90s Kid made his rock and roll hand signs at Mrs. Crabtree. ROB responded with an angry whirring sound and Travis quickly glared at both of them. Dan shook his head and chuckled before he leaned over and kissed 90s Kid on the cheek, making the teen blush. He didn’t care who was watching them this time. 

Yes indeed, sunny skies were here and things were finally going to get better. He just knew it.

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

Dan whistled a cheerful tune as he brought four suitcases packed to the brim downstairs. Dolly shot him a disapproving look.

“Do you really need to bring all that with us?”

“Dolly, who knows how long we’ll be doing ‘you know what’ with ‘you know who’?” He winked very obviously at Dolly, immensely proud of his idea to make sure none of them ever said any details of their trip aloud. Dolly rolled her eyes. “Thanks to my careful packing, I’ve made sure we never run out of the essential components of life.”

“So your idea of essential life components includes 20 cans of Like Cola and a copy of ‘Slumber Part Massacre II’?” ROB asked.

“Of course!” Dan grinned at both of them before settling his bags near the front door. He caught sight of 90s Kid lying on the couch and staring at some cartoon that was on TV. He wore a look of apprehension and kept fiddling with his sunglasses every few seconds.

“Hey, you all right?” 90s Kid looked up as Dan settled onto the arm of the couch next to him.

“Oh, yeah, dude.” He tried to smile at Dan but it quickly disappeared as he sighed. “I’m just, like, worried about… you know.”   

Dan nodded and reached out to lay his hand on 90s Kid’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard to be positive right now, but I really think everything’s going to be all right. That hologram can’t watch us all the time, and once we got onto the open road, I just know we’ll be able to shake him. I’ve even got an emergency plan set up in case we need to switch vehicles-I haven’t told Dolly about that one yet, but I’m sure she’ll be onboard with ditching her car for a few days.”

“You’ve totally thought all about this, huh?” 90s Kid curled his fingers around Dan’s.

“Keeping you safe is all I can think about right now, Kid,” Dan admitted, his voice soft. 90s Kid felt a warm sensation flood his chest and he gripped Dan’s hand tightly, a part of him never wanting to let go. Dan smiled at him and gripped back. “So, did you finish packing?”

“Yeah. My stuff’s here.” 90s Kid pointed to his duffel bag, which was lying under the coffee table.

“Great. I’ll get it for you.” Dan released 90s Kid’s hand and moved the bag over so it sat next to the others. Then he checked the time. “Dinner should be ready in a few minutes, so we should probably get ready. I know it’s a little earlier than usual today, but I want everyone in bed before it gets too late so we can have an early start tomorrow. I don’t know how long we’ll be driving, but I’m making sure to bring all my tapes of classic tunes to enjoy along the way.”

“Awesome, dude.” 

That night, 90s Kid lay wide awake for quite some time. Even though Dan was snuggled against him in a most comfortable manner, he couldn’t find a way to relax. His mind kept racing with thoughts of the upcoming trip and wondering how Dan could be so certain that no one would be able to discover where they were going. 

Holokara was dangerous and wouldn’t easily be fooled. He was watching them closely, seemingly fixated on 90s Kid, and he seemed determined in his goal to keep the teen in a state of constant fear. Would he really give up and leave them all alone if they managed to slip away, or would the hologram pursue them?

90s Kid was sure he knew the answer. He was afraid that Holokara would find a way to show up no matter where they went, afraid that he would never find a moment’s peace with Dan ever again. Afraid of what would happen if Dan and his friends tried to fight the vicious program. They weren’t prepared for battle like his teammates were. They possessed no knowledge of magic or weapons or even basic hand-to-hand combat. Even guns, the most awesome superpower in the world, did no harm.

90s Kid started to imagine Dan’s attempts at fighting Holokara, all of which ended in the older man’s mangled body collapsing onto the ground, and he started to feel nauseous. He slid out of Dan’s arms and hurried into the bathroom where he splashed cold water onto his face and tried to calm his racing heart.

“Dude, just chill. Keep it together. Freaking out’s, like, totally not going to help.”

A sudden twinge of pain in 90s Kid’s chest caused him to rub the skin over the area tenderly. It still hurt. Whenever he thought about Holokara or worried too much, he could feel the fingers clenching around his heart all over again, gripping so tightly that pain was all he knew for a few, excruciating moments.

“As I thought… you’re nothing but weakness.”

90s Kid gripped at the sink to keep upright. “ _No… please no…”_ With knees that threatened to buckle, he forced himself to turn around and stared at the cold smile of Holokara.

“Pl-please, dude, can’t you just l-leave me alone?”

Holokara sneered at him. “Begging for mercy now? How disgusting. I’ll never understand how Linkara could remain so patient in the face of your pathetic incompetence. He should have gone ahead with his initial plans to get rid of you once and for all.”

The words stung as if he’d been smacked in the face. 90s Kid’s eyes widened and his cheeks grew hot.

“No way… Linkara’s my bro… he wouldn’t do that, he’s cool with me hanging around. Y-you’re lying.”

“Have you forgotten that I am basically a copy of Linkara?” The hologram’s expression grew incredibly smug. “That includes his thoughts. So if anyone would know how he feels about you, it’s me.”

“He wouldn’t think that,” 90s Kid insisted. 

“He thinks you’re a good for nothing waste of space, but you already know that, don’t you?” Holokara chuckled icily. “You know it deep down in your soul.” Holokara began to advance upon 90s Kid, baring his teeth as his laughter grew louder. Then, with a wave of his arm, four familiar people split off from his image. Harvey, Ninja-Style Dancer, Linksano, and Boffo were now in the bathroom with Holokara, joining in with mocking smiles of their own. “There are so many things an idiot like you truly knows, like how much the others despise you, how they view you as the liability that should be removed permanently before you almost destroy the world again.”

90s Kid whimpered, trying to fight back tears. “That wasn’t me. I-I didn’t-”

“It doesn’t matter. Your utter uselessness has already hurt the people you claim as friends, despite knowing they would never do the same. But you don’t have to worry about them anymore. It was for the better that you abandoned them.” 

Holokara snapped his fingers and the others vanished, leaving just him and 90s Kid. “I’m taking _very_ good care of your former friends now, so you can continue to focus on your new friends. Continue making plans to flee, which, aside from annoying everyone with your love of garbage from a decade that should remain forgotten, is the only thing you’re good at. Continue to run, you little waste of space, and I’ll come to find you.”

Then he was gone, leaving only the faint sound of laughter still echoing throughout the bathroom. 90s Kid’s knees gave out at last and he sat heavily onto the side of the bathtub, keeping a hand pressed over his heart, which was pounding like a jackhammer.

“Oh dude…” He didn’t know what to think. All 90s Kid knew was that Dan and his friends were in danger no matter what they did. “It doesn’t matter where we go… he’ll find us… because of me.”

90s Kid whimpered again and hugged himself tightly. He wanted to be with Dan more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life, but how could he stay close to him when the threat of Holokara would forever be looming over their heads? That monster could strike at any moment. With just one flick of his hand, he could reach inside Dan’s body and…

“No!” 90s Kid stood up, shaking his head to erase the mental image. “No, I totally won’t let him hurt Dan! Or anyone else here! I can’t let him!”

90s Kid’s hand instinctively reached for his cell phone but he paused in mid-dial. How could he call the others after what had happened the last time? Why would they believe Holokara was making threats against him now if they didn’t before?

Just thinking about his teammates caused a churning sensation in his stomach. Seeing holographic images of them laughing along Holokara was very unsettling and just plain wrong. 90s Kid suddenly felt the desire to see his friends for real, even if not one would share that sentiment, and explain to them everything that had transpired.

“They’ll totally have to believe me if I, like, explain it to them myself, face-to-face. I can make them understand, I know I can. I just, like, have to see them.”

Feeling determined to set things right with the others, 90s Kid exited the bathroom and crept down the stairs. He found his duffel bag sitting by the front door and unzipped it before reaching inside. A moment later, he pulled out his new sketchbook and a marker, and thought for a while before he came up the right words to leave on the paper. 90s Kid knew that no matter what he wrote, it wouldn’t be enough to properly express how he really felt, but he had to try to let Dan know why he was doing this. When he was finally satisfied with his message, 90s Kid slowly ripped the page from the book and folded it twice. He repacked his things into his bag and returned to Dan’s room as quickly and quietly as he could, feeling thankful that the older man was such a heavy sleeper.

He tiptoed over to the bed and gazed down at Dan, feeling his resolve begin to crumble. 

“Oh dude.” 90s Kid reached out and stroked Dan’s cheek, eliciting a happy sigh from the older man. “I totally don’t want to go, but I know you’ll always be in danger cuz of me. Holokara will never stop, so I have to… I have to leave you, Dan.” His fingers started to tremble, so he pulled them back, afraid of waking his boyfriend. “I’ll go back and talk to the others. I’ll, like, make them get it about Holokara and we’ll fight him, dude. Then I’ll come back. I totally p-promise, Dan.” He felt the sting of tears in his eyes and took a shuddering breath. “I’ll always come back to you, Dan. Cuz I totally love you… so much.”

90s Kid bent down and kissed Dan for a brief moment, trying to memorize what if felt like when their lips were pressed together, before he stood back up. He sniffled and placed the note on Dan’s pillow in the spot where his head was supposed to rest.

“Good bye, Dan.”

90s Kid returned downstairs, hoisted his bag over his shoulder, and hurried out of the house. He couldn’t bear to stay even a moment longer, or he knew the temptation to stay would be too strong for him to resist. The teen spurred himself forward all the way to the bus stop and didn’t look back until he was settled into a seat of the night bus headed in the direction of Linkara’s place.

90s Kid watched Dan’s neighborhood melt into a sea of darkness and felt a part of himself vanish as well into the night. But it was too late for second thoughts. He needed to do this, to make his friends understand, to stop his tormentor for good, to keep Dan safe.

Once they’d been on the road for a while, 90s Kid pulled out his Tenderheart Bear and cuddled it to his cheek, inhaling the lingering scent of Dan’s bedroom before he drifted off to sleep.

  



	9. Chapter 9

Dan reached out a blind hand to smack his  _Garfield_  alarm clock as it woke him from a very pleasant sleep. Yawning and stretching, he reached out his arm to wrap it around his boyfriend and was surprised when all his hand met was cool sheets. Opening his eyes, he saw he was in bed alone, aside from a folded piece of paper on 90s Kid’s pillow. He quickly put on his glasses and opened the letter…

\-----

“Mrs. Crabtree, I love that new outfit you’re wearing!” ROB called out gleefully as she strode across the room. “But I’m sure it would be for the best if you packed it in that luggage over there.”

Dolly rolled her eyes at the inevitable barrage of insults Travis and ROB would begin to spew at each other, but all voices in the house quieted when they heard several loud banging noises coming from upstairs. It quickly became apparent that Dan was running wild all over the house, opening doors, rummaging through things, slamming doors, running downstairs, then repeating his previous actions. He seemed frantic and desperate, as if he were trying to find something, and his eyes were wide and full of fear, while hot tears trickled down his cheeks. Dolly and the others watched him in alarm for a moment before she called out to him.

“Dan? Dan!”

 But, it seemed that Dan couldn’t hear her as he continued his frenzied run throughout the house, and the only clue he offered was that he kept calling out, “Kid! Kid!!” in an ever more despondent voice. Finally, Dolly grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to remain still as she stared him in the face.

“Dan! What’s going on?”

“He’s gone!” Dan yelled out, his voice cracking, even as his head continued to swivel desperately in the hopes that he might find any evidence to prove his words false. “Oh god, he’s gone!”

“What do you mean?” Dolly asked, gently touched his chin to force him to hold still. “Did that holo-thingy take him?”

Dan’s eyes went wider in fright as he shakily handed her the letter. “I-I don’t know! He said he went back to save his friends, but I know he’s in danger! Please, you guys, I have to find him! I have to go to him!”

Dolly’s eyes scanned the letter and she swallowed. She turned to the others. “It doesn’t look good.”

Dan quickly grabbed Travis’ cell phone out of his jacket. “Can I help you?” Travis asked indignantly as Dan dialed 90s Kid’s phone, but Dan ignored him. His breath came fast and his heart pounded in his ears as he heard ring after ring after ring… and then a click.

“Kid? Is that you? It’s Dan, I-“

“90s Kid can’t come to the phone right now,” Holokara purred sweetly. “Would you like to leave a message?”

“You!” Everyone else took a step back at the sheer venom now in Dan’s voice. None of them had ever heard him so angry, even in Hill Street Blues mode. “What are you doing to him?! Tell me he’s okay! Let me talk to him!”

“My, you’re very pushy. Harvey and Pollo got pushy and they’re not doing very well.” The hologram answered calmly and politely, as if he were discussing something as unimportant as the weather. “But if you insist, I’ll let you speak to him. He’s in his room.” Dan heard footsteps and a door opening. “Here. Speak to your fellow lover of forgotten garbage.”

“H-hello?”

Dan’s heart broke as he heard the frightened voice of the teen. “Kid? It’s me, Dan. Are you okay?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine, Dan…” 90s Kid mumbled. “Totally… totally fine… all of us are fine—Dan, don’t try to get in here, there are force fields, it’s a trap!” 90s Kid’s voice suddenly got frantic and his words almost jumbled together with how quickly he started speaking. “I don’t want you to get hurt! I love you-“ He was abruptly cut off and Dan’s eyes widened as he heard the sound of Holokara smacking 90s Kid, his heart plummeting as he heard his boyfriend’s cry of pain.

“You’ll pay for that…” Holokara hissed before putting the phone back up to his ear. “As the waste of space was kind enough to tell you, there’s no way to get inside of this base. You can try keys, battering rams, blowtorches, whatever you desire, but nothing can penetrate our defenses. For now, I need to take care of this… breach of security…”

“NO!!!” Dan screamed into the phone, hearing the line go dead. “DON’T HURT HIM!!! NO!!!” 

The phone slipped out of his shaking hands and Travis made a diving leap to catch it. Dan ignored that, he ignored everything but his trembling hands, which had tightened into fists and were starting to blur as his eyes welled up. His whole body started to tremble and before he could collapse, he threw himself onto the couch and burst into wild tears, the sobs wracking his entire body. Dolly, the Crabtrees, and ROB stared at him in silent shock. None of his closest friends knew what to do or what to say. It was incomprehensible to them that Dan, the goofy, eternally smiling guy that was always trying to have fun, could now be writhing in anguish on the sofa before them. So they watched him, feeling completely helpless, while Dan pounded his fists against the cushions in rage.

“Fuck his force fields! Fuck his security! That’s my boyfriend in there!” Dan screamed, becoming hysterical. “I won’t let him hurt him! I won’t! I won’t! I WON’T!” His words became incoherent as he screamed and cried, and inside his chest, he could feel his heart starting to shatter.

The others, still transfixed by this unfathomable display, were shaken from their stupors to look on in surprise as ROB slowly rolled over to where Dan lay. 

“He really means a lot to you, doesn’t he?”

“He… he’s my life, ROB…” Dan choked out, sniffling and hiccupping. “He’s the only person I’ve ever really l-loved, the only one who r-really understands… I can’t lose him, ROB! I CAN’T!” Dan burst into renewed sobs and the robot sighed.

“Okay, Dan. If it means that much to you, I’ll go and help. Now, I’m not promising that I can do any good here, but maybe there is something I can try. Maybe.” 

Dan’s sniffling started to quiet and he took a few deep breaths to squelch his hiccups before he turned to look at his friend. He wiped his eyes, his face hot from crying, and blinked uncertainly at ROB. “D-do… do you…you really mean it?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Dan let out an undignified squawk of relieved laughter before he picked up ROB and hugged him close, his mood rising once again. “Y-you’re the best, ROB! You’re the best Nintendo peripheral robot a friend could ever have!”

“Hey, put me down!” ROB commanded, back to his usual annoyed self. “I’ve got a reputation, you know! I don’t wanna be seen as some-“

“Oooh, ROB…” Mrs. Crabtree cooed as she walked her fingers up and down Rob’s parts. “I love it when you get all brave and defiant like that.” Travis made a noise of disgust. ROB made a beeping sound in delight.

“Okay, what are we waiting for? Let’s go save what’s-his-name!”  
\--------

90s Kid shakily sobbed as he pulled Tenderheart Bear closer to his chest. He was lying on his bed in the fetal position, curled up after Holokara had decided to beat some sense into him for not keeping up the charade on the phone. He knew there would be bruises on his face and arms later, and his back ached from being kicked so many times. “ _I totally didn’t even try to fight back…_ ” he thought to himself, feeling a mixture of sorrow and shame. “ _I’m, like, a total coward… I’m so bogus… but I didn’t want Dan to get hurt cuz of me… but what can I do? Everyone’s totally in danger here…_ ”

The door opened and 90s Kid instinctively shoved his bear under his covers, afraid that his last connection to Dan would be taken from him. Then he cowered, burying his face in his chest, and wished he could disappear. “Relax, junior, it’s just us.” He looked up at the sight of Harvey Finevoice, Pollo, and Linksano, the last of whom was carrying a first aid kit with him. “Man, he really did a number on you, huh? Get your jacket off so the doc can help you out.”

While Harvey stood guard at the door to make sure Holokara did not appear, Pollo and Linksano helped 90s Kid lie down and remove the necessary garments. 90s Kid did so very gingerly, as if every movement was agony. “Please lie still so we can tend to your wounds,” Pollo instructed. The teen did so and cried out as Linksano began to treat him. “Please do not scream. Holokara will not like it if he finds out we are helping you. Please try to keep as silent as possible while we do this.”

“This should help with the pain,” Linksano told him as he sprayed something onto 90s Kid’s back. He sounded much saner than usual, his manic energy abated for the time being.

90s Kid winced nonetheless and reached a hand under his blankets to squeeze Tenderheart Bear when the pain grew too bad to bear. He soon was burying his face in his pillow and moaning occasionally as nimble hands touched his cuts and bruises. To cope, 90s Kid imagined that Dan was there, gently coaxing him to be strong, and he could swear he heard Dan’s voice in his ear.

“ _It’s okay, Kid… you can do this… just relax, it’ll be over soon… there you go…”_ Those soothing words helped him breathe easier and he managed to stay quiet until Linksano was finished.

While Pollo packed up the first aid kit, Linksano sighed. “I think that’s the best I can do for now. There doesn’t seem to be any permanent damage, so he should be fine after some rest.” 

“Thanks, doc,” Harvey said before turning his gaze to the teen. “I know you’re not feeling too hot, but what the hell were you thinking coming back here?” He couldn’t help scolding despite his worry. “After the stunt he pulled on you? You should’ve stayed away.”

90s Kid looked extremely confused. “What are you talking about, dude? I talked to you and Pollo about him and you guys didn’t believe me!”

Pollo and Harvey exchanged a look, then looked back to him. “We have no record of such a phone call being made.”

“But I totally did call you guys! I warned you that the holo-dude was bad news and that he’d hurt you guys like he hurt me! You told me to get lost and not call again.” 90s Kid winced again at the memory; the pain of not being believed by his comrades still stung.

“That wasn’t us, junior. Once we found out what that creep did to you, we went in there and tried to rush him. It… didn’t work out so well.” Harvey unbuttoned his jacket and lifted up his shirt to reveal bruises along his lungs. 90s Kid gaped in horror and the lounge singer dressed himself back up. “He was impersonating us. We wouldn’t have left you alone like that.”

90s Kid couldn’t help but feel better at the words despite his wounds. “Oh, man, I knew it couldn’t have been real. You guys are my bros, you wouldn’t have done that to me…” He winced as he felt his wounds throb slightly. “We gotta find a way to get out of here and get rid of that holo-dude for good.”

“I highly doubt that’ll happen.” Everyone turned around to see Holokara materialize in front of Harvey. He grabbed the singer by the collar and threw him out into the hallway before snapping, “Linksano! Pollo! Get out of here! I don’t want to see you speaking to him again!”

“You can’t tell us what to do, you broken circuit box!” Harvey angrily yelled, as he struggled back to his feet. 

“Haven’t you already done enough damage?” Linksano cried, gesturing towards 90s Kid. “Can’t you just leave him alone?”

“Please, dudes, just do what he says. I don’t want him to hurt you guys.” 90s Kid was shaking again, very frightened of what the impersonator could do if thoroughly enraged. Harvey sighed angrily, but shrugged his shoulders and walked away, Linksano and Pollo following behind.

Holokara shot 90s Kid a glare that made him whimper and shut the door, locking it from outside. 90s Kid retrieved his plushie and hugged Tenderheart Bear to his chest again, sighing and wishing he were only braver. Wishing he could keep his friends safe. Wishing Dan were here…

\-----

Pollo and Harvey, now joined by Ninja-Style Dancer, sat at the kitchen table, Harvey quietly fuming as he spun his cigarette in his fingers. “There’s gotta be a way we can take him down…”

*I have been attempting to make contact with Linkara for days* Ninja-Style Dancer held up on a card. *All my attempts have been blocked by Holokara’s interference. I can’t even reach Nimue, so it looks like we’re going to have to make a plan on our own.*

Harvey sighed and rubbed his temples. “Damn it, Kid, where are you? We could really use one of your speeches to lift our spirits right now.”

Pollo seemed about to say something, but then stopped as his red eye flashed several times. The tuxedo-clad man raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s up?”

“I am receiving a transmission.”

*Is it Linkara?* Ninja-Style Dancer asked while Harvey crushed his cigarette and looked hopeful.

“No, it is not him. I am receiving a transmission from another robot named ROB.”

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

Before Pollo could speak further, he and Ninja-Style Dancer were grabbed by Harvey, pulled down the hallway, and pushed through the door that led into Linksano’s laboratory.

“Hey!” The scientist jumped in alarm as his door was unceremoniously thrown open and he covered whatever was on the table in front of him with his arms. “You’re supposed to knock before you enter here!”

“Sorry, doc, but there’s no time.” Harvey turned and locked the door before fixing Linksano with a stern gaze. “Now, I know you’ve been tinkering with some crazy gizmos in here, but I gotta know: did you ever invent something to make it so no one can hear what’s going on in here?”

“Uh, well,” Linksano began, looking somewhat nervous as he fiddled with his fingers. 

“I don’t need an explanation,” Harvey interrupted. “Just turn it on right now, so that Fakekara can’t hear us.”

“A-all right.” Linksano hurried over to a set of switches on the wall of his lab and flipped one. The lights flickered for a moment, but otherwise there seemed to be no change in the room. Harvey raised an eyebrow at him. “I swear, that should have made the room soundproof!” Linksano insisted. “Go ahead and test it if you don’t believe me.”

“Fine,” Pollo said, pulling free of Harey’s grasp so he could hover into the air once again. “I assumed all technological beings were capable of great intelligence, but Holokara has obviously proved to be an exception.” 

They all paused after this proclamation and waited, hands poised over their weapons, but minutes passed and nothing happened, so they lowered their arms and relaxed.

“Okay, I guess it does work.” Harvey pulled out a new cigarette before turning back to Pollo. “Now, what was that you were saying about another robot contacting you?”

*It shouldn’t be possible to make contact with another robotic unit.* Ninja-Style Dancer held up on a card. *Holokara has terminated all methods of communicating with the outside world, which is why we haven’t been able to reach Nimue or Linkara.*

“I understand what Holokara has done, but this signal is not like the ones we normally use to communicate,” Pollo tried to explain. “It is significantly weaker than normal and I am not able to receive it clearly. To use a human equivalent, it’s like sitting in a crowded restaurant and trying to speak to someone at the end of a long table. There is a great amount of interference, but I’m still able to make out the message if I concentrate.”

“So why isn’t that signal getting shut down like the rest?” Harvey asked.

“Perhaps its weakness is also its greatest strength,” Linksano responded, giggling softly at his joke. “If the signal is difficult for a primitive automaton like Pollo to receive, then an advanced unit like Holokara might not even feel it register on its radar at all.”

“Who are you calling primitive?” Pollo asked, turning to glare at Linksano.

*We don’t have time for arguments.* Ninja-Style Dancer quickly stepped between the two. *Pollo, can you relay to us the message ROB is trying to send?*

“Yes. He and his companion 80s Dan are en route to our base. They wish to help us defeat Holokara so that we are out of harm’s way.”

“They do? That’s wonderful!” Linksano clapped his hands together with delight. “Finally we might be able to get away from that holographic perversion of SCIENCE!”

*I’m not so sure.* Ninka-Style Dancer shared a look with Harvey.

“Me either,” the singer added. “From what I know about those guys, they ain’t much for battles, especially not when we’re up against a psychotic phantom we can’t even touch.”

“We can’t think like that!” Linksano snapped, scowling at Harvey a little. “Do you just want to give up on any offers to assist us and do nothing until we end up like 90s Kid?”

Harvey let out an irritated sigh and chomped down on his cigarette.

“Okay, okay, tell them we’re glad to have any help we can get. Are they saying anything else?” 

Pollo’s eye flashed for a moment. “It seems Dan is especially worried about 90s Kid and ROB is inquiring as to his condition.”

“Oh jeez,” Harvey sighed, taking another drag and exhaling the smoke slowly. “There’s no good way to answer that. That stupid hunk of junk treats junior like his favorite target. Damn it all!” Harvey punched the wall, loud enough to make Linksano jump back in fear. “Why the hell is this happening? What is wrong with that thing out there? How dare it pretend to be the Kid when it’s doing all this to us? If only we could reach the Kid and tell him about what’s happening… if only we could know he was safe out there…” He leaned against the wall, his head hung low, and took several jagged breaths.

Ninja-Style Dancer placed a calming hand on Harvey’s shoulder. *I know how you feel. I’m worried about Linkara too, but I’m just as worried about us. If we don’t figure out a plan, who knows what Holokara has planned for us… or for 90s Kid.*

Harvey sighed after reading the ninja’s words and nodded.

“I know, I know. I gotta keep my head right now.” He straightened up and adjusted his fedora before turning to face his team. “Pollo, tell those two that Holokara is keeping us trapped in here without any way to contact the outside world. Tell him about the force fields and how we can’t use brute force against him. Tell him that none of us are in great shape, but that the thing is keeping junior isolated from us and… and we don’t think it’s for any good reason.”

“I understand.” Pollo’s eye flashed once more. “I think it will be best if we’re honest with them, no matter how much the truth will upset him.”

“Force fields…” The others turned as Linksano started muttering under his breath and rummaging through a large drawer. “Perhaps, if it can be reached, then just maybe, if there’s enough power, yes, of course, it just might!”

“Mind filling the rest of us in?” Harvey asked, shooting Linksano an unamused look.

“Don’t you see it?” Linksano stood back up, a large, silver tool of some sort in his hands. “If Pollo is able to communicate messages with this other robot, he should also be able to share energy! Energy powerful enough to tap into the tech ports of the base and deactivate the force fields trapping us inside!”

*Are you serious?* Ninja-Style Dancer asked while Harvey turned to Pollo.

“Do you know if that’s possible?”

“I believe it is possible to share energy,” Pollo replied. “However, I don’t know if the shared energy from the two of us would be strong enough to blow the circuits in here.”  

“Ah, but you are forgetting,” Linksano said, smiling manically for the first time in a while. “ROB is able to communicate with the outside world, which means he has a chance of contacting Nimue! If we can add her power to the mix, those force fields won’t stand a chance!”

“But that thing is sure to feel if Nimue starts doing something to the base,” Harvey said.

“If we create a distraction and get him to leave the base, he might not feel Nimue’s interference until it’s too late,” Linksano theorized. “It’s a longshot, I admit, but what other chance do we have?”

*If we can manage to diffuse the force fields, it will only be for a limited amount of time* Ninja-Style Dancer deduced. *We will have to come up with a plan to account for all outcomes. We also must decide if we should grab 90s Kid and flee the house, or confront Holokara in the hopes we can deactivate him.* 

“Let me think on that,” Harvey said, dropping his cigarette and crushing it with his heel. “For now, just tell that other robot what we have in mind and see if he’s up for the challenge of deactivating a powerful base like this one. After that, I think we should all scatter and go about our own business for a while. It’ll take time for those two to arrive, and I don’t want that thing getting any indication that we’ve been meeting up like this. So I want you all to lay low until I give the signal to meet again.”

The group agreed and slipped out of Linksano’s lab in intervals, Harvey going first, then Ninja-Style Dancer, and finally Pollo twenty minutes later. The robot was determined to keep as far from Holokara as he could, lest he discover their only link to the outside world.

\------

 “God, Dan, could you slow down a little?” ROB asked as their car whizzed past several others along the highway. “I’ve already had my pieces assembled by humans once and I don’t need to go through that again.”

“No time, ROB.” Dan didn’t once turn his gaze from the road as he took a sip of coffee and pressed down harder on the gas pedal. The drive to Linkara’s place usually took several hours, but at the speed Dan was going, they might arrive before evening fell. “What else are they saying? How’s 90s Kid? He’s with them, right?”

“Hold your horses, Dan,” ROB said, wishing his eyes were movable so he could roll them. “I told you the connection isn’t very good, so it takes a while for everything he says to come through. It’s already hard enough listening to that monotone of his-thank God the Japanese experimented with me and gave me this natural voice. I think I’d kill myself with my own batteries if I sounded like Pollo.”

“ROB, what about 90s Kid?” Dan shot him a sorrowful look and the robot sighed.

“Okay, but I know you’re not going to like this, so try and stay calm.”

“What happened?” Dan’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel, his knuckles starting to turn white.

“I don’t know for sure. Pollo said that Holokara is keeping him separated from the others for some reason but they don’t know why. They don’t think this is a good thing and from what I’ve heard and what you’ve heard during that phone call… well, Dan, I think we’d better get there before he gets more than the shit beaten out of him.”

“Oh God!” Dan cried, stomping on the gas pedal now as he willed the car to move faster. “I’m not going to let that fucking hologram hurt him anymore! I’ll tear it apart with my own hands if I have to! I don’t care what it takes, but I’ll kill him if it’s the last thing I ever do!”

“Dan!” ROB stared out the window in horror as the car started swerving dangerously close to other vehicles. “Calm down or _this_ is going to be the last thing we ever do! You’ve got to keep it together and stay in control, ok? Pollo is already telling me about some plan his friends are coming up with, so things might not be as bad as we assumed! Just, I don’t know, think of some crappy thing from the 80s you love and calm down, will you?”

Dan didn’t answer. He couldn’t calm down, not yet, not until he was holding 90s Kid in his arms again, certain he was safe from harm. He’d made a vow to protect the teen and Dan was going to live up to that vow no matter what.

\-----

90s Kid focused on the sketchbook in his lap and the sound of pencils scratching gently upon paper. He refused to let his eyes wander away from the colorful pages before him for even a second; he would look only at his drawings and not at the bodies lying on the ground around him.

He didn’t know how long they’d been there, but they weren’t real. They definitely, totally were not the bodies of people who had been brutally mutilated.

“Help me,” they called out in pitiful voices, moaning for mercy and an end to their suffering.

“I-I can’t hear that,” 90s Kid muttered, gripping the book tighter as he continued to draw a blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane. 

“Why won’t you help us?” Arms drenched in blood started to appear at the sides of the bed as they struggled to pull themselves up. 90s Kid whimpered and scooted backwards a little, trying to draw his body into a tight ball.

“R-rainbow Dash, you’re going t-to look 20 percent cooler for s-sure,” he said, voice quavering as he picked up a pink pencil. “N-now it’s time for Pinkie Pie to throw an awesome p-party-”

“You useless idiot!” 90s Kid gasped and trembled as the bodies transformed into those of his companions. The mangled forms of Boffo, Linksano, and Ninja-Style Dancer clawed at him from the foot of the bed while a tuxedo-clad man with a gaping, bloody wound in his torso sneered at him from behind his headboard. “Why didn’t you help us? You ran away and left us to die like the pitiful child you are!”

“No!” 90s Kid slammed his hands over his ears and shut his eyes. “Y-you’re not real! I-I’m totally not seeing this!”

“We never needed you here,” the others hissed, their voices low and angry.

“Uh, c-come on everypony, smile, smile, smile.” 90s Kid started to sing softly, his mind latching onto a comfortable song to try to distract him from the horrifying illusions all around him. “F-fill my heart up with sunshine, s-sunshine-”

“Kid! Help me, please!”

“Dan!” 90s Kid couldn’t help opening his eyes as the image of the older man appeared outside his bedroom window.

“Please, let me in!” Dan cried, knocking at the glass desperately. “If you don’t help me, he’s going to-ahhhh!” His words became a scream of anguish as an arm suddenly burst out from his chest and his whole body went limp. His glasses went flying and blood started trickling out from his every orifice.

“Ahhhhhh!” 90s Kid felt his eyes water and a wave of bile rose in his chest, but he closed his eyes once again and forced it back down. “D-do the… Care Bear countdown… a-and send a wish… out through the air…” He collapsed back onto his bed, burying his face in Tenderheart’s chest, and sobbing heavily as he tried to rid his mind of those images. “It’s not real… Dan’s not hurt… just do a Care B-bear countdown… when you need them… they’ll be… there…”

90s Kid jumped as his cell phone started to ring. The other holographic projections in his room had vanished and things seemed to be normal again, but he knew his senses weren’t to be trusted. 90s Kid was going to ignore the call, but then he saw Linkara’s name flash brightly and, as a flare of hope lit up his chest, he grabbed the phone and shakily held it to his ear.

“Lin… kara?”

“90s Kid? What’s going on? Why haven’t I been able to contact you or any of the others for days now?”

“I-is it really you?” 90s Kid sniffled and gripped the phone a little tighter. “Dude, you have to come home right now!”

“What? Why? What’s happened, 90s Kid?”

“It’s that holo-dude!” 90s Kid cried, his strength starting to return the longer he spoke. “Something’s wrong with him, he’s attacking us and totally hurting us, dude! He’s crazy messed up! Please come back and, like, fix him, Linkara!”

“90s Kid, what are you saying? Are you telling me you’re afraid of that holographic program?”

“Yes!” 90s Kid sat up and shouted, not even caring how loud his voice was. “Yes, I’m totally afraid of him!”

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “I should have expected this.”

“Dude, no one could have expected he’d go crazy,” 90s Kid insisted. “He fooled everyone-”

“No, I mean, I should have expected you to turn into a worthless coward yet again. I don’t know why I even bother to have high expectations for a disgrace like you.”

“What…” 90s Kid felt his heart plummet into his stomach. “Linkara-”

“After I risked my life to free you from that Elder God, I heard you,” he continued, his voice becoming icy. “All those nights you were crying in your bed, all those nights you were shaking with fear from nightmares, I heard you. You kept mewling in this disgustingly pathetic way, begging for someone to rescue you. I should have expected you not to even try to save yourself. All you do is add to my burden thanks to your incompetence.”

90s Kid’s shoulders were shaking as the tears streamed down his face; he wished he could just disappear entirely and stop hearing these words, the words he’d always feared were true.

“Do you remember when I talked your old friend the Entity to death?” The voice was a whisper now. “A part of me wished I could do the same to the real you, just so I wouldn’t have to put up with your uselessness and idiocy a moment longer. You’d truly be better off dead… no one would miss a coward…”

90s Kid collapsed onto his bed, trembling and hiccupping, his face completely wet and his eyfes squeezed shut as he tried in vain to stop the tears that refused to cease. He could no longer feel Tenderheart’s slowly dampening fur brushing against his cheek, could no longer see his colorful drawings of the Justice League wielding the Elements of Harmony. All that remained was a throbbing ache in his chest that worsened with each beat of his heart. 

90s Kid’s phone, loosened from his grip, fell to the floor with a clatter and stated to vibrate from the cold, crazed laughter that seeped through the earpiece. Then it too vanished.

  



	11. Chapter 11

90s Kid wished he could fall asleep. A dark, dreamless sleep where he didn’t have to worry or think or see or feel. He wished he could enter a world of nothingness, empty of everything painful and unkind, but he knew it was a futile wish. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw them, those horrible visions that Holokara would lay before him; monstrous visions of his friends turning on him, Linkara laughing at him, Dan being tormented and killed; visions that would haunt his nightmares if he had ever been able to fall sleep. 90s Kid supposed he did doze off every so often, but it was hard to tell when he had no method of measuring how time passed. 

So he simply lay still, weak and prostrate on the bed. He didn’t know how long he had been in that room, but it felt like an eternity. His eyes were puffy and red from crying and his throat burned for lack of water. A dull pain in his stomach alerted him to the fact that he was hungry, and he wished for food and water, but he knew there was no chance of Holokara feeding him, or of him even being able to get out of the room to find sustenance himself. The cuts and bruises were definitely showing now, all over his face, arms, and back. It hurt whenever he moved slightly or even turned his head, so he remained motionless as much as possible.

90s Kid wished he could stop feeling. All he could sense right now was fear, loneliness, and pain. Even though a small part of him was relieved that his friends believed him, and were hopefully out of danger, he wished desperately that one of them, anyone were there with him.

90s Kid’s most fervent wish was for Dan. He had never wanted anything more than for Dan to be at his side, to hold him, to whisper in his ear, to ease the pain. To gently scold him for his wish of nothing, and to remind him how bright and good and happy the world could be. In those strong arms of his, surely nothing could harm him. 

“Dan… I need you…” he whispered softly, licking his dry lips.

90s Kid opened his eyes, startled, when a warm hand slipped into one of his. He ignored the stab of pain as he forced his neck to turn and blinked when he saw a smiling Dan kneeling next to the bed. “It’s you… oh, man… I-I missed you so much…“ 90s Kid tried to reach out his arms but they quickly fell back, his whole body weakened from hunger and pain. He sighed happily when Dan ran a soft hand through his hair.

“I missed you too, Kid.” 90s Kid closed his eyes and let himself soak up the sensation, trying to relax, and starting to feel safe once again. But it was too difficult and his body soon reminded him of what he needed, so he looked up into Dan’s face, pleading.

“Dan… do you, like… have any w-water?”

Instead of offering his usual smile, Dan sighed and rolled his eyes. “You really didn’t prepare for this rescue at all, did you? Don’t you ever have the sense to plan ahead, or is there really nothing inside that head of yours?” 

90s Kid let out a sharp breath, his face screwing up in hurt. The words stung worse than any fist, especially coming from the mouth of the one he loved most. But no, this wasn’t right… why would his boyfriend, his sweet Dan, act so cruel towards him? No, this wasn’t right at all…

“You’re always so lazy and forgetful; I don’t know why I convinced myself to come back here to see you.” The hand tightened in his hair and 90s Kid whimpered with pain. That’s when he truly knew.

“You’re… you’re not Dan…” The hologram grinned, fizzled, and gently dissolved. 90s Kid caught his breath and tried not to shake as more tears began to fall from his swollen eyes. 

This was the worst torture of all. It was already painful enough when he had to watch his boyfriend’s body being torn apart in several sickening manners, but Holokara had come up with an even crueler way to hurt him. 90s Kid didn’t know how long he could stand having his hopes raised to the skies when he thought his wonderful Dan was there with him, only to have them come crashing down by having those vile words and taunts spewed at him. No, Dan would never, he was the sweetest, most wonderful man he knew. Why did Holokara have to try to destroy the image of his Dan? 

It made 90s Kid wish for nothing again. He wanted only to close his eyes and feel nothing if this was all that was left for him. So he did, and tried desperately not to think about the memories he’d created over the past week, lest they too be tainted.

“ _Dude… Dan… where are you? I… I miss you… so much…”_

\--

Harvey, Pollo and Ninja-Style Dancer all reconvened in Linksano’s laboratory later that afternoon. Although it was still early, the sky had grown dark and was covered in heavy clouds ominously threatening to drench everything in their path. Harvey felt it only appropriate that the horror movie which had become their lives be set with such fitting weather. After locking the door and double-checking to be sure the room was once again soundproofed, they went over the plan Harvey had been fretting over for the past two hours. 

“What’s the status on getting through to ROB?” the singer asked, lighting up a cigarette.

“ROB and 80s Dan are very close to our location. They should be here within the hour,” Pollo informed them after making contact with the other robot. “We need to prepare for Phase One, where we use a distraction on Holokara so that he will not notice when we contact Nimue. ROB and I will try to combine our energies with hers to break the force field, but we will only be able to do such for a short time before Holokara notices what is happening. Thus, we must make every second count.”

*What kind of distraction should we use?* Ninja-Style Dancer flashed on a card. He turned to the doctor. *Linksano, do you have anything here that we can use for such a thing?*

Linksano let out his usual maniacal laugh, having brightened considerably once he’d heard help was on the way. “You’ve come to the right place! I have everything from smoke bombs to polonium in this lab! If we manage to make enough of a commotion outside the base for Holokara to go see what the matter is personally, that should buy us plenty of time to move on to Phase Two!”

“Get some of that together and have it ready to launch when we need you to,” Harvey told him, pointing his cigarette in the doctor’s direction. “Next, we need to be prepared for when Dan slips in here so he can grab junior; when he does, we’ll make our move.”

*Where are we going to go?* Ninja-Style Dancer asked. *I do not know of anywhere we could run, and I am a master of hidden places.*

“I don’t know. That is why I feel we must be certain about our plan to destroy Holokara,” Pollo told them. “His source of being is the Mobile Emitter that he wears on his arm. If we manage to retrieve that sensor and destroy it, that should be sufficient for stopping him from functioning for quite some time.”

Harvey stubbed out his cigarette and nodded. “Then that’s what we’ll do.” He looked to Linksano. “You got what I asked for ready to go, doc?”

“Yes, yes, just as you requested!” Linksano clapped his hands together before laying out a tray of silver tubes before the others. “Everyone, please take one, and remember to be careful! I don’t want to put my medical degree to use for anything but SCIENCE ever again!”

Harvey rolled his eyes but quickly picked up one of the items while his teammates did the same. “Okay. Now, everyone know what to do?” He was answered with several solemn nods and adjusted his fedora, tucking the tube under the brim. “Then this meeting is adjourned. Alright, now, same as last time, people, not all at once. But go in a different order this time.”

\-----

More time passed. How much, he still couldn’t tell, nor did he particularly care. 90s Kid was feeling even worse. His breath was short and labored and his body ached and stung at the slightest movement. He didn’t know how much longer he could last like this; he needed somebody, anybody to save him, or he really would go searching for that sweet nothing his body was craving. Surely, it must have been days since he’d first been locked in his room. 90d Kid shut his eyes and tried to rest, hoping that vengeful eyes wouldn’t stare back at him from beneath his lids.

“Kid…” He felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He painfully opened his eyes as a smiling Dan stood before him. He shook his head weakly.

“No… no, that’s… not you…”

“Of course it’s me, Kid. It’s Dan.”

“No… you’re n-not real…”

“Remember that night where you showed me your awesome skateboard tricks and you managed to soar down that flight of stairs without breaking a sweat? That was awesome, Kid!”

90s Kid felt a muted flare of surprise. “ _I guess he must have known that somehow…”_  

“Please, Dan, help me…”

“I’m here to help you, Kid. Don’t worry.” Dan grinned, showing off numerous teeth, and moved his hand to 90s Kid’s arm. The teen cried out in pain when Dan started squeezing it. “Ow! Please, stop! It- it hurts!”

“I’m helping you man up, you coward,” Dan spat at him, his smile now a scowl. “Honestly, what’s wrong with you? You’re hardly worth saving in the first place…”

90s Kid saw the sensor on his shoulder. Holokara didn’t even bother making it invisible, that’s how little he thought of 90s Kid. Summoning the last of his strength, the teen reached out and managed to strike it with his fingers. The fake Dan fizzled and faded away. 90s Kid was too weak now for tears and he didn’t know how much more he could take of this. 

“ _I’m losing my mind… can’t anyone… help me?”_

\------

After countless hours, lots of caffeine, and ROB all but screaming prayers in the passenger seat after Dan weaved through traffic like a bat out of hell, the two finally arrived.

“This is their street,” ROB informed Dan before the car made a sharp left turn. “Shit, Dan! You have to slow down now! Our whole plan relies on us being stealthy and unseen, so you have to cool it if you don’t want to blow this whole operation right from the start!”

To ROB’s surprise, Dan instantly obeyed his commands and slowed the car to almost a crawl until they rolled into a parking space near the building. Dan quickly turned off the ignition and killed the lights in the car before turning to his companions. “Tell Pollo we’ve arrived.”

“Can you give me a minute, please? I feel like I’m gonna vomit battery acid after that trip from hell.”

“Damn it, ROB, hurry! Kid is in danger and I’ve waited far too long to help!” Dan’s face was tense but it was obvious he was just managing to hold back tears.

“Ugh. Fine.” ROB quickly began transmitting and soon he was receiving a message back. “Linksano is gonna create a diversion out here using some sort of spark bomb. We need to lay low in the dark here until Holokara comes out here to check the trouble. Then we’ll try to contact Nimue and short circuit the force fields, but we’re racing against time. Just get in there, find 90s Kid, and get out as fast as you can. Everyone else is gonna try to take Holokara down.”

Dan nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt, prepared for flight at just the right moment. 

“ _We’re here, Kid. I’m coming for you. Hold on for me, I promise to save you. I promise I’ll keep you safe. Forever…"_

\--

The team was settled in the living room, trying to act as though nothing was amiss and it was one of a hundred nights they had all spent together. Harvey was polishing his dress shoes, Ninja-Style Dancer was tossing his stars into a dartboard, and Linksano was tinkering with his junior chemistry set. Boffo was standing by the window, acting casual as he fiddled with a balloon animal, prepared to give the signal when it was time. Pollo floated nearby, watching over them all.

Holokara sat on the green futon, casually reading a comic book. Harvey couldn’t help glaring at him every so often with disgust. That thing may be the spitting image of his close friend, but inside it was the exact opposite. The Kid would never act like that to any of them. He was always kind, always clever, always so refined. Well, maybe he got cocky once in a while, but he’d never treat his friends the way this thing did. The Kid would never stand for that kind of behavior. 

There was a reason Harvey liked hanging around here, liked being a part of this group; even though they were some of the most different people to share a home, and they constantly got on each other’s nerves, he knew the Kid’s ragtag crew were some of the most loyal, dependable people in the world. Harvey would even go so far as to call them his family.

Now, there was a monster threatening his family. Harvey sure as heck was not gonna just sit back and let it happen.

Boffo gently squeezed his horn and Linksano discreetly rolled some of the spark bombs to him. Holokara noticed nothing as Boffo dropped them from behind his back out the open window. The explosion happened immediately, bright as fireworks and just as loud, making all of them jump. That was fortunate, as it helped continue their charade.

Holokara testily threw the comic book down and got up from the futon, storming to the front door. “Must be some stupid kid setting off fireworks. Well, I’m gonna go down there and make sure to put a stop to it. All of you stay put.” They all restrained a collective sigh of relief and Pollo immediately started the transmission.

ROB let out a measured beeping noise. “Okay, that’s our cue, Dan. Go! Now!”

  



	12. Chapter 12

The second Holokara stepped outside the base, ROB focused completely on contacting Nimue. It was difficult, even harder than it had been to contact Pollo, and ROB felt like he was struggling to move through a tornado as he desperately searched the atmosphere for her signal. At last, he felt it, and sent a surge of energy bearing his message.

“Hey there. You don’t know who I am, but I know Pollo, and we’d really appreciate it if you could get off your artificial ass and help us out right now.”

“What? Who is this? How are you able to communicate on this wavelength?”

“Ooh, a ladybot. Well, pardon my French, but we’ve got a huge shit storm brewing down here so I don’t have time to explain. All I know is, Pollo and those meatbags he lives with are in trouble, so we need you to beam down as much power as you can at this building.”

“That cannot be possible. The base is under the protection of Linkara’s holographic duplicate and he has not informed me of any danger.”

“Lady, he is the danger,” ROB insisted, glancing nervously out the window at Holokara. “Haven’t you noticed what he’s been doing for the past week or so?”

“Negative. I have been instructed to enter sleep mode for the time being, so I have not been monitoring the base like I usually do.”

“Then I’d suggest you have a little viewing party right now and learn what kind of freakshow that hologram is.” ROB heard a faint clicking sound and figured an advanced program like Nimue must have been able to instantly access and view the building’s security footage of from the past several days. Seconds later, she spoke again, her voice much more intense than it had been.

“I understand. What can I do to help the team?”

“Just channel all the energy you can down here,” ROB explained. “We need to destroy the force-fields keeping your friends trapped inside, and we only have a few moments before that hologram notices what we’re doing.”

“Understood. I have begun the process of channeling energy into the base’s power generators now.”

“All right, it’s time to party.” ROB proceeded to focus on sending all his energy toward the building as well, aside from pausing a moment to watch Dan as he snuck around back. “I know I’d never say this to your face, but… be careful, Dan.”  

\-------

Holokara picked up the remnants of the spark bomb and studied them with a glower. “Damn kids. What the hell were they thinking throwing this kind of crap onto the lawn? They’d better not try this again, or I-”

He paused mid-threat when he felt a strangely familiar sensation in the air. Nimue. Holokara looked up, his glower increasing, even though he couldn’t possibly see the spaceship from where he stood.

“Nimue, what are you doing? Your orders were to remain in sleep mode until further notice.” There was no response, and Holokara’s mood plummeted. “Nimue! I order you to follow my instructions and enter sleep mode immediately!”

His response was a strange crackling of energy that lit up the darkened skies for a moment before the generators powering the base exploded. The building instantly went dark.

“Damn it, Nimue! How dare you disobey me?” Fuming at the audacity of the AI, Holokara promptly accessed her database and forced her to shut down. “She’s got some nerve going against orders. I’m probably going to have to re-program her.”

The hologram stopped speaking when he noticed the thin red line aimed directly at his shoulder. He disappeared instantly, just before the laser could strike, before reappearing behind its wielder.

“What are you doing?” Holokara snapped as he grabbed Ninja-Style Dancer’s arms and tried to pin him to the side of the building. “I thought I told you all to wait inside!” 

“Yeah, well, it turns out we’ve decided not to take orders from you anymore.” Holokara’s eyes glinted with malice as he realized Harvey, Linksano, Pollo, and even that ridiculous clown were all outside and pointing lasers at him.

“What nonsense is this? How did you even-” His eyes narrowed as he realized. “The force-fields. That traitorous computer did this, but she couldn’t have acted alone. “ Holokara cast his glare at Pollo, who only tilted his head, where the silver tube was attached, down toward the program.

“Yes, I also participated, but it was for the good of the team.” Holokara’s grip on the ninja tightened.

“I decide what’s for the good of the team! I’m in charge here! You’ll pay for this mutiny, you’ll all pay!”

“I’ve had just about enough outta you!” Harvey shot another blast at the hologram just as Ninja-Style Dancer vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Holokara holding only air. In the next instant, he vanished as well, but Harvey continued to shoot. “Remember, just because you can’t see him don’t mean you can’t shoot him!”

“Correct!” Linksano cried. “He is still tangible even when invisible, so that Mobile Emitter can be struck at any time-ah!” Linksano cried out when he felt icy hands tighten around his throat, but he managed to elbow Holokara in the ribs and jumped away before he could be strangled. While Pollo flew over to make sure the scientist was all right, Harvey raised an eyebrow at the scene.

“So, you can hit him when he’s grabbing onto you, eh? It might be worth a few more bruises to sock you in the nose!”

“You fools!” Holokara hissed, turning invisible once again. “Do you really think you can do this? I’m in charge here! You will obey me!”

“Just keep aiming for wherever that yapping comes from,” Harvey instructed, sending several blasts in the direction of Holokara’s voice. He didn’t know how long this battle was going to take, but he knew they needed to keep the hologram from noticing as Dan snuck inside the base and brought 90s Kid to safety.

\-------

Dan was never good at keeping quiet, but as he slipped the spare key 90s Kid had given him into the lock of the building’s backdoor, he bit down on his tongue just to make sure he didn’t give himself away. He’d been hiding in the bushes until he heard the explosions and now he could tell some sort of intense battle was going on, but he felt no fear or concern for his well-being. All that mattered now was getting to 90s Kid and taking him out of there to some place safe.

Dan crept into the empty apartment base and made a quiet dash for the stairs. He knew where 90s Kid room was even with his eyes closed and he was relieved to find the door was not barred in any way he couldn’t open. Dan swiftly turned the knob and rushed inside before stopping dead in his tracks.

“Kid? Oh God… is-is that you?”

His face was bruised and swollen, one eye blackened, and a cut ran from his cheek down the back of his neck. He was lying on his side, not moving save for the weak rise and fall of his chest. His eyes were closed and they remained so even when Dan reached down to stroke his hair.

“Kid… what did he do to you?” Dan wanted to scream and cry and rage and find Holokara so he could beat the life out of him, but he forced himself to remain calm. None of that would help 90s Kid right now. He just needed to get him out of there, and then Dan could go after the monster. “O-ok, Kid, it’s really not so bad. Those injuries are probably going to heal in no time,” he said, trying to sound like his normal positive self. “Let’s just get you out of here and I’ll get a first-aid kit to patch you right up, ok?”

Dan quickly realized something was wrong. 90s Kid hadn’t jumped up at the chance to leave, or said anything to Dan at all, or even moved. It was almost as if he hadn’t realized someone was in the room with him. Dan frowned and stroked his hair again, but 90s Kid didn’t react. He tried moving his hand to 90s Kid’s shoulder and shook him gently. “Come on, Kid, let’s go. We can leave now, I promise.”

Still no reaction. Dan felt his heartbeat quicken as fear pooled in his stomach. “Kid? Kid, can you hear me? It’s me, Dan. I’m here to take you somewhere safe, just like I promised.” He tried shaking his shoulder again and finally earned a soft whimper for his efforts.

“Go… away…”

“What? Kid, I’m not leaving you.” 

“Please… go…”

Dan couldn’t understand what was happening. Why would 90s Kid want him to leave? Maybe he didn’t understand what was happening.

“Kid, Holokara isn’t here right now. All of your friends are distracting him so we can get you out of this place. The force-fields are down, but we have to hurry, because he could come back at any time.” To Dan’s frustration and fright, 90s Kid only tensed up his body in response. “Kid, please, we really have to go!”

“Stop,” 90s Kid choked out, his voice raspy like sand paper. “Just stop… showing Dan… totally… totally hate it… no more, please… don’t show… me him…”

“What? What do you…” Dan trailed off as the pieces came together in his mind. “Wait, Kid. Did that thing show you illusions of me? Did he try to hurt you by using me?”

90s Kid whimpered again, his eyes squeezed shut as he started trembling, and Dan felt a fire pass through him that could have melted Antarctica. That piece of shit had actually tormented his sweet boyfriend with cruel images of himself? He clenched his hands into tight fists and felt his nails dig thin red crescents into his palms. Then, the anger was gone, and Dan only felt only despair for what 90s Kid had gone through. He quickly knelt down and started to stroke the teen’s hair again as his voice grew soft and gentle.

“It’s me, Kid. It’s really me, Dan. I know you don’t believe me because of what that thing did to you, but I’ll prove it to you, I swear I will. What can I do to prove it? What do you need, Kid?” 

90s Kid shuddered and coughed weakly, and Dan heard again how raspy he sounded. “Do you need a drink, Kid? Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Dan hurried into the bathroom and filled a cup with water before returning to the younger man’s side. “Here. I know it must hurt to move, but try to drink this.” He brought the cup to 90s Kid’s lips and slowly tilted it. Some water spilled out onto the sheets, but 90s Kid seemed like he was trying to swallow it. When the cup was empty, Dan refilled it and let him drink again while he racked his brain, trying to figure out what best would work to prove he wasn’t an illusion. 

“Remember how we first met, in time limbo?” he asked, setting the cup down before he stroked his fingers through the teen’s short hair. “We traded sodas back then. New Coke and Coke II. Even though I seemed calm at the time, I was really confused about being sucked out of the 80s and a little scared about what life was like in this decade. Then, I met you, and I felt better because there was someone else going through this too. However, when I got to know you, and realized how funny and sweet and amazing you are, I felt bad for ever being relieved that you had gotten pulled out of time... sorry, Kid. I hope you weren’t ever as scared and confused as I was. You didn’t deserve that, Kid, not for a minute.” Dan traced his fingers down over 90s Kid’s cheek, avoiding all of his injuries, and continued speaking.

“Remember when we hung out at the hotel back when Snob and Linkara were doing that thing where they complain about awesome movies and comic books? We were in that arcade for hours and you wouldn’t leave until you got 2,201,967 points because that was Kurt Cobain’s birthday. Then we went back to the room and ordered room service and just laid on the bed watching TV until we fell asleep… it was then that I thought I… I might really feel something for you, Kid.”

Dan’s voice caught in his throat and he pulled his hand back to study the younger man’s face. 90s Kid’s eyes were still closed and he seemed unwilling to move, but his body had relaxed somewhat. Dan refused to give up, so he slipped his hand into 90s Kid’s own and squeezed gently.

“I have even more stories. I’ll keep going. I won’t stop until you know it’s me, Kid.”

\------

Harvey was ducked down behind a car and panting softly. He was starting to feel discouraged and he hated himself for that, but he couldn’t help it. It felt like they’d been battling for ages and Holokara was still going strong. Sure, his sensor had been stuck a few times, chipping away at the white plastic coating, but none of them had been able to do any permanent damage to the program.

What made the battle more difficult were the holograms. Holokara was creating multiple copies of himself to distract them, so the team was constantly blasting away at nothing but illusions. Soon they’d grown weary of the steady stream of attacks and had decided to take a short respite by hiding in different areas around the base. 

“Come on, gotta keep going,” Harvey urged himself. “Gotta take this thing down before he does any more damage.”

Harvey wished he could see the others from his position, but he knew most of them had taken cover as well. Ninja-Style Dancer and Pollo were most likely uninjured, but there had been several close calls where they’d almost blasted each other. The others weren’t so lucky, since Linksano had been punched a few times and Boffo had been roughly shoved into the street. There hadn’t been any traffic at the time, but the poor clown was so terrified by the experience, he’d sprinted away in a panic. Harvey couldn’t blame him, though. He wasn’t cut out for fighting like the others were.

Harvey wiped the sweat from his brow and decided he needed to try a new tactic before they ended up slicing each other into mincemeat.

“Hey, Fakekara! I gotta question for you!” Even though he was addressing the hologram, Harvey remained crouched down, ready to shoot at any sign of movement. “What’s your endgame here? You really think once the Kid gets here, he’s gonna pat you on the back and compliment your torture techniques? You think you’re not gonna get the plug pulled on you once he finds out what you’ve been doing to us?”

“What I am doing is trying to remove the faults from this flawed, sorry excuse for a unit,” a cold voice spoke into his ear. Harvey whirled around, blasting wildly, but was shoved and pinned to the ground by Holokara, his laser knocked away.

“G-get off!” Harvey shouted, trying to struggle under the weight of the very solid hologram. “Get your stinking mitts off me, you defective hunk of junk!”

“Can’t you see that you’re what’s defective here?” Holokara snarled, his fingers tightening around Harvey’s arms. “This whole team is riddled with laziness and weakness and incompetence! It’s diseased and sickly, and yet, instead of trying to heal, you exacerbate the problems and let them fester until your whole operation is rotten!”

“You’re what’s rotten here!” Harvey shouted, managing to shove his knee up into Holokara’s groin. The program growled with pain and loosened his grip, allowing Harvey to shove him off and scramble across the ground as he searched for his weapon.

Ninja-Style Dancer suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed him before they both vanished in a puff of smoke. When they reappeared, they were in the highest branches of a tall tree. Harvey grabbed onto the branch at once and noticed Linksano and Pollo also were settled in neighboring trees.

“Come back here, you cowards!” Holokara raged at the stormy skies as he stood up and looked around for the team. “Come back and let me cure you of your cowardice! If you don’t believe in my treatment plan, then just take a look at your weakest, most useless member! He’s my number one patient and already showing significant signs of improvement!”

Holokara threw back his head and laughed in such a crazed manner that even Linksano muttered, “There’s something definitely wrong with him.”

Harvey felt his blood boil at such a speech and before he could stop himself, his mouth was opening.

“How dare you go around criticizing us for being weak and cowards?! Only a real coward would attack an innocent kid like you are!” he shouted.

“Oh please, don’t give me that garbage,” Holokara said, his eyes landing on Harvey’s location at once. “You all know I speak the truth. You’ve always thought that 90s-loving idiot was the most worthless member of this group. You’ve always been irritated by his stupidity and his weakness. Only a pathetic specimen like 90s Kid could have been so easily captured and replaced by an abomination of nature. Remember, I possess Linkara’s memories, so I know how everything has come to pass. Don’t try to deny it, Finevoice.”

“That… no, no, that’s not…” Harvey couldn’t help feeling guilt when he thought back on all the times he’d been rough and even outright mean to 90s Kid. He was right, Harvey had thought of him as the weakest member of the group before. 

Before he could gather his thoughts, however, Pollo began to talk. “While 90s Kid has been responsible for most of the accidents inside the base, he is not an idiot. He is the first person Linkara asks to repair and upgrade his weapons when he cannot do so with magic.”

“And he may be young, naive, and inexperienced,” Linksano chimed in, “but he’s no coward! Whenever I need someone to help me test out a new invention or serum, he’s the first to volunteer! Even after he turned green that one time, and grew gills, he still returned to the lab when I asked and bravely let me inject him again!”

Harvey turned to Ninja-Style Dancer. *He may be annoying, but he’ll never give up in a battle. He will stick by our sides and fight until he has no fight left in him.*

“You’re right,” Harvey said before looking down at Holokara once more. “I did use to think like you, that he was weak and stupid and not someone who should be a part of this group, but I was wrong. Junior is braver than all of us. When the Entity was dead, and he came back after losing a year of his life, he could have quit, could have just run away, and I wouldn’t have blamed him. But the truth is, he didn’t. He stayed because that’s what the Kid wanted. I don’t blame him for being captured, heck, it happened to all of us! I’d be a hypocrite if I did! And after you threatened him like that, he still had the guts to come back and try to take you on and make sure we were all right! In my book, that’s the definition of bravery!”

“Too bad no one cares what you think.” Harvey almost fell when he was suddenly surrounded by multiple Holokaras, but he steadied himself and blasted them all away.

“That’s it! I’m sick of this! I’m shutting your damn yap for good!”

Without hesitating, Harvey launched himself out of the tree, directly at Holokara, and fired away. Around him, the others did the same, focusing only on hitting the transmitter as they fell.

\-------

“Remember when we went roller-blading? I was so sore after that I had to shove an ice pack down my jeans for the rest of the day! Remember when ROB told that story about the toy store-no, that was terrible, uh, don’t remember that.”

Dan was getting desperate. He’d been chattering away for so long that he was sure his chance to escape was slipping away, but no matter what story he told, 90s Kid still didn’t believe him. He just lay there, breathing, not reacting at all when Dan touched him or squeezed his hands. Dan wanted to just lift 90s Kid over his shoulder and carry him out, but when he’d tried to move his arms around his torso, the younger man had started to cry and moan fearfully. Dan just couldn’t do it, not until 90s Kid trusted him.

“Remember when we were driving to my place just a week ago?” Dan asked, smiling a little at the memory. “You laid your head on my shoulder and fell asleep. I was so happy that you trusted me that much… that I was the one you would turn to when something b-bad happened.” Dan felt his eyes water and his voice wavered. “R-remember that song that was playing? I was thinking… maybe it could be o-our song, Kid. It’s just some old ditty from the 80s, but… it really meant something to me… because I don’t want to lose your love… I don’t want to… to lose you, Kid.”

Dan couldn’t hold back any longer. He fell to his knees and started to weep, the tears hot and thick as they slid down his face.

“I-I’m so sorry, Kid. This never should have happened to you. I-I should have done more to protect you. I should have been braver… and stronger… and-and better… but I promise! From this moment on, I won’t ever leave you again, Kid! I won’t let anyone take you away and hurt you again! I won’t let them! I s-swear, Kid! I’ll stay with you! I’ll just stay here and k-keep you safe!”

Dan pulled himself up and wrapped his arms around 90s Kid, laying his head gently over the younger man’s. He couldn’t stop himself from sobbing as he hugged his beloved, and soon his tears were splashing onto the teen’s cheeks and forehead. Dan’s knuckles grazed against the fur of the bear he’d given 90s Kid, and without even realizing it, soft words began to spill from his mouth. 

“Who’s that coming… from somewhere up in the sky? Moving fast and bright… as a firefly?” Dan continued to cry and sing, almost lost in a world of his own, but he started and looked up when he felt a cold hand on his cheek.

“D-dan? Is that… is that you?” Dan sniffled and nodded.

“It’s me, Kid.” 90s Kid blinked before his lips started to stretch out into a smile. 

“Dan… I missed you…”

“I missed you too, Kid.” Dan pressed his lips to the teen’s forehead and melted when he heard him sigh. “Come on, Kid, let’s get out of here.”

  



	13. Chapter 13

“Dan, I… I need help…” 90s Kid murmured, trying his best to sit up. Dan gently helped him move into a sitting position and then helped him get to his feet, but the younger man’s legs were shaking so much from weakness and pain that he could barely stand up. He ended up falling back to the bed, breathless. “I’m so bogus… sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry,” Dan gently scolded, placing a gentle hand on his head to steady his shaking. “Don’t worry, Kid. I’ll get you out of here even if I have to carry you out.” He was frightened by how pale 90s Kid was and the sight of the cuts and bruises made him want to cry, but he shoved down those emotions so he wouldn’t scare the love of his life.

Dan leaned in and looked him in the eyes. “I’ll try not to hurt you. See if you can put your arms around my neck.” 90s Kid tried but they fell back weakly. Dan put an arm behind his back and under his knees and lifted him up. The younger man did not cry out, but Dan saw him bite his lip and go even whiter. His heart broke. “It’s okay, Kid… you’re gonna be okay… I’m here, I’m gonna get you out… try not to worry…”

“I’m… I’m not worried, Dan,” 90s Kid mumbled out as Dan carefully got him out of the room, taking care not to bump his head. “I’m totally… not worried… because you… came back…” Dan’s heart melted and he smiled down reassuringly at his boyfriend. The teen smiled back and placed a shaking hand on Dan’s chest, over his heart.

The gesture caused Dan to choke up a bit, but he forced himself to keep moving. They were running low on time and they had to get out of there. However, there was one thing on his mind that kept nagging at him. “Hey, Kid? What was it that convinced you it was me? What story was it that got you to trust me?”

“Not a story… when you…started singing…that made it, like…click, man...” 90s Kid was still having trouble speaking, but his voice was slowly getting stronger. “I know that… holo-dude wouldn’t have had his, like, fake guys do that.” He stirred a little in Dan’s arms. “Put me down, dude. I think I can walk.”

Dan met his eyes, looking carefully. “You’re sure? I can carry you as long as it takes.” 90s Kid nodded and Dan gently set him down, putting an arm around his shoulders to steady him. Dan placed a gentle kiss to his forehead and they walked the rest of the way together. “I’ve got you, Kid. No matter what, I’ll always come for you, always keep you safe. I promised.”

90s Kid smiled and they paused in the middle of the living room. “I know, dude. And I promise you that, too.” He quickly pulled Dan in for a gentle kiss on the lips. “I know we’re like, really strapped for time, but I just want to let you know that... I love you, man. And thanks for sticking with me.”

Dan kissed him back and pulled him into a brief hug. “I love you too, Kid. I should really be the one thanking you for everything.”

The two hastily broke apart as the door burst open and Harvey ran in, looking like hell. His hat was off, his suit jacket was ripped, and there was a hardened look in his eyes. “You two turkeys better go take cover, that thing’s headed this way. The clown’s already hiding, and the ninja and the doc are trying to hold him off.”

Dan nodded and was ready for flight back to the bedroom, but 90s Kid refused to budge. He shook his head. “No way, man. Just toss me a weapon and I’ll help you guys out.”

Harvey raised an eyebrow, but handed them two lasers from out of his suit jacket, admiration and respect showing in his eyes. “Thanks, junior, knew I could count on you.” 90s Kid couldn’t help but fidget with pleasure at Harvey being proud of him, but the moment was cut short when Linksano, Ninja-Style Dancer, and Pollo hurriedly entered the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

“He’s headed this way! Lasers at the ready, people!” Linksano cried, taking a stance behind the couch. No sooner had he said that than Holokara materialized before them, looking much the worse for wear but still standing. His transmitter was cracked and occasionally sparked, but there wasn’t enough damage done to it yet to destroy it. He saw 90s Kid and Dan standing there and his face morphed into a hideous scowl.

“You two… weak, pathetic, useless… you should’ve stayed cowering in your room…”

90s Kid was shaking, partly from weakness, but also from rage. Dan put his arm around him to steady him and Harvey supported him from the other side. “You leave him alone, toaster face,” Harvey threatened, holding his laser at the ready. “He’s been through enough already, and I’ve had just about enough of you, you son of a-”

Everybody froze when they saw the door open, and their hearts all skipped a beat when Linkara stepped inside. “MAN, you guys would not believe the trip I – what the hell?!” he exclaimed as he took in the sight before him, instantly bubbling over with questions. “Harvey, what’s going on? 80s Dan, why are you here? 90s Kid, what the hell happened to you?” Linkara had caught sight of the teen’s face and was now looking at him in horror.

“I was merely teaching the pathetic coward a lesson,” Holokara began, acting as though what he had done would earn him a pat on the back from his creator. “90s Kid has always been the weak branch here, hasn’t he? You should’ve seen him cowering in fear from me, all this last week-“

90s Kid heard a voice that, for a moment, he didn’t recognize as his own. “I’m not afraid of you.”

All eyes turned toward him. Holokara stepped forward with that poisoned smile on his face. “I think it’s a little late to be making that statement. Ever since I started approaching you and Dan a week ago, you were nothing but a shaking, stammering wreck. Then you foolishly thought you could return here and help your comrades, when they all just wished you’d stayed away…”

“That’s not true, you worthless hunk of garbage!” Harvey yelled, enraged. 90s Kid felt bolder at the sound of his friend standing up for him and met the hologram’s gaze without wavering.

*Harvey is correct.* Ninja-Style Dancer agreed, holding up his cards. *As we made clear before, he is our trusted ally.*

“I’m not afraid of you anymore, holo-dude.” There was no longer any fear on 90s Kid’s face. “I know my friends believe me, I know I’ve got Dan to take care of me, and no bogus visions you can throw at me will ever make that change!” Dan’s heart soared at the sound of his boyfriend standing up for himself, and he beamed at him with pride and admiration.

Holokara laughed as though 90s Kid had just told him a joke. “Oh, really? If you were actually as strong as you say you are, then how come I can do this?” Without warning, he disappeared, Dan suddenly vanishing with him. 90s Kid gaped in shock as seconds later he witnessed Dan being pinned against the wall, Holokara’s hands held firmly over his throat. “Pathetic… weak… watch as I teach him the same lesson…” He cocked his arm back and was ready to strike.

90s Kid lunged at Holokara, grabbing him by the back of the collar and throwing him to the ground, enraged. Without thinking, he held him down and punched the transmitter, causing a scream of pain from the hologram. The punch wasn’t enough to kill him, but it was enough to weaken him so he couldn’t move away.

“Now, you listen to me.” 90s Kid’s voice was low and rough, nothing but venom and malice in his eyes. “I could handle it when you went after me, dude. But you attack my friends? You attack Dan?” He spat down into his face. “You’re a goner.”

He enclosed one hand around the monster’s throat. Holokara gurgled weakly, his eyes going wider and wider as more sparks flew from his emitter. “Don’t… kill me… please!”

90s Kid grinned and wrapped his fingers around the transmitter.

“Who’s the coward now?” With a hard squeeze, there was a crackle of electricity and a harsh scream before Holokara fizzled out, disappearing into smoke and vapor as he became no more.

For a brief moment, everyone just stood frozen to in place, too stunned by what had just occurred to move. Then Dan’s coughing broke the silence, and 90s Kid hurried to his side, pulling him up to his feet. “You saved us, Kid…” Dan pulled him into a gentle embrace, careful not to aggravate his injuries.

It was either the relief at seeing his boyfriend safe, the joy of defeating Holokara, the pride in hearing his friends standing up for him, the sheer adrenaline rush he was feeling, or any combination of those things, that led 90s Kid to embrace Dan tightly as he kissed him passionately on the lips. Dan quickly returned the embrace, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

Linkara stared dumbfounded for a moment while Linksano suddenly became extremely fascinated with the laser gun he was holding. Ninja-Style Dancer held up a card that read *…* and Pollo, who had long suspected this was going on, said nothing out of respect for the moment.

Harvey, oddly enough, grinned widely at the sight. He leaned in to murmur into Linkara’s ear, “I laid a kiss like that on Cole Porter once.” Linkara did a double-take at them both and threw his arms in the air, hopelessly confused. Harvey chuckled and pulled him into a hug. “It’s good to have you back, Kid. It was pretty scary for a while.”

90s Kid and Dan finally broke off their kiss and gazed warmly at each other before remembering that other people were in the room as well. Their faces started to burn with embarrassment, but 90s Kid kept smiling as he turned to Linkara. “Welcome home, dude! It’s great to see you… oh, man…” His adrenaline rush was fading as his knees began to shake again, and he held onto Dan for support.

“Quick, get him on the futon!” Dan ordered as Ninja-Style Dancer helped lay him down. “And somebody get some water and something for him to eat, since I’m sure that thing didn’t feed him while keeping him trapped in his room.” Dan knelt down and took his boyfriend’s hand while Harvey followed his orders.

“I’ll go get my first aid kit to tend to his injuries,” Linksano said, turning away and sprinting to his lab. “I echo the sentiment of your return, Linkara!"

“Boffo has contacted me and will return shortly. I have also alerted ROB that the battle is over and it is safe for him to enter,” Pollo said, floating toward his creator. “Please, promise me you will never pull a stunt like this again.”

Linkara nodded, running a hand over his brow. “I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere for a while, I promise. Now, can somebody please fill me in on what happened here?”

Harvey came back in bearing a sandwich and a glass of water, which he handed to Dan. “Hope you’re in the mood for a story, Kid. It’s definitely a doozy…”

While Harvey launched forth into the tale from the beginning, Dan helped feed 90s Kid and the two shared a smile. Linkara was home, Holokara was defeated, and both of them were safe. Dan pressed his lips to the teen’s forehead and whispered so that only he could hear.

“I love you…”

“I love you, too…”

\-------

A week later, Dan and 90s Kid were on their way to a great vacation. Dan had always regretted that their week together had been clouded by Holokara, and he wanted to get them both away for some fun before settling back into their old routine. After hearing their tale, Linkara had instantly agreed and even let Boffo give them some vacation money as part of his apology for leaving them with Holokara.

90s Kid bounced around in his seat with excitement as they drove. “Duuuude, this is gonna be so awesome!” He grinned wildly and made his usual hand signs. Dan grinned back and couldn’t help laughing. “I love the beach, man! It’s totally rad that you rented this place for the week.”

Dan pulled into the parking lot of the beach house and watched as 90s Kid eagerly undid his seatbelt and got out of the car the moment he shifted into park. “Jeez, Kid, the beach will still be there in a minute, slow down!” Dan couldn’t help laughing at his energy, though, and he felt somewhat rejuvenated when he watched 90s Kid run around the car in excitement. The two  quickly grabbed their luggage from the trunk and headed inside.

“C’mon, Dan, hurry up!” the teen called, bounding up the ahead of him. Dan panted as he followed after, having to lean against the open door for a moment.

“I’m too old for this… so much for rejuvenation...” After he caught his breath, Dan caught up with 90s Kid and the two both looked around with wonder. “Wow, this place looks great. And it’s ours all week!” Dan eagerly clapped his hands together. “What should we do first?”

90s Kid looked out the window with an eager expression. “I dunno about you, dude, but I am dying to hit the beach.” Dan chuckled and stretched his arms over his head.

“You don’t say. I suppose I could use a refreshing dip in the ocean.” 90s Kid quickly grabbed the bag with his swim gear and headed into the bathroom to change. Dan sighed and shook his head, still quietly laughing. 90s Kid was like an excitable puppy with tons of energy and the ability to spread happiness wherever he went. Even though it was tiring to keep up at times, Dan couldn’t have been happier at the sight of his boyfriend moving around joyfully. After all that time he’d seen 90s Kid scared and sad, he couldn’t get enough of his huge grin and eternally good mood. Dan hoped it never went away again.

\-----

Dan laid out their towels and stuck the umbrella in the sand while 90s Kid lathered himself up with sunscreen. “Dude, could you get my back?”

“Sure.” Dan was eager to help out, but he tried not to let his hands linger to the point where he wouldn’t want to let go. He made sure to cover every inch of skin, and there was an excited flutter in his stomach when 90s Kid let out a soft, contented sigh.

With his backwards cap, sunglasses, and patterned swim trunks, he really was the perfect portrait of a surfer dude. He adjusted his shades to better check Dan out then. “Dude, I love those trunks you’re wearing!”

Dan grinned. “I thought you would! I still have my old  _Jams_  shorts from the 80s!” He stood back so his boyfriend could admire them. “And they still fit! Anyway, are you gonna head out into the water?”

“I didn’t bring this for nothing, man.” 90s Kid brandished his cherry red surfboard. “It’s been forever since I’ve hit the waves. Here, let me get your back first so I don’t come back to find you totally burnt.” Dan had to stifle a moan, another flutter of excitement in his chest, as 90s Kid ran his hands all over his back. Maybe sometime during this trip they’d get to do a little more than that…

Trying to keep his lust at bay, Dan gave 90s Kid a brief kiss of thanks when he was finished and got comfortable on his towel so he could watch him surf. 90s Kid eagerly paddled out into the water, obviously knowing what he was doing. Dan was definitely impressed. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to surf. It probably took a lot of skill and balance, not to mention bravery, to head out there and ride the waves, and all these qualities were more suited towards his boyfriend.

Dan couldn’t help but feel worried when 90s Kid paddled into an enormous wave, but the teen merely smiled and surfed it like it was nothing. He seemed to be having the time of his life, grinning and yelling as he rode the water as if he could bend it to his will. After a while, he fell in, but merely swam back laughing. “Wooo! That was gnarly, man!” he called to Dan.

Dan laughed and waved at him, knowing he could watch 90s Kid surf and swim all day and never get tired of it. “ _He’s like a dolphin. A magical dolphin that can somehow go underwater and not lose his hat or sunglasses in the process.”_

\-----

When the sun was starting to set, the two came home happy, tired, and carrying pizza. 90s Kid had finally swum himself out and Dan had even joined him for a quick backstroke, and it was certain the two would sleep well that night. 90s Kid couldn’t believe how awesome everything had been with Dan, and the two were still giggling out of sheer joy when they sat down on the couch in the living room to eat.

At first, Dan had been uncertain of picking up that particular food for dinner, but 90s Kid had insisted. “Dude, I’ve eaten pizza until I blew chunks before, so it’s no biggie,” he said with a smile. “Besides, we ate that on our, like, first official date, and I don’t want it to be ruined because of that holo-freak.” After that, there was no way Dan could deny him, so they dug into the delicious dish eagerly.

“Did you have fun today, Kid?” Dan asked, giving a kiss to his boyfriend’s warm cheek. 90s Kid nodded, his mouth still full.

“Mmm!” He quickly swallowed. “I totally had a ton of fun today, Dan. Thanks again for, like, taking me out here.” Dan grinned and nodded, reaching for another slice.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” After they finished eating, the two cuddled and watched TV, glad to be away from civilization, content to just take a breather and relax after the week from hell. Dan took a moment to collect his thoughts about all that had happened recently.

He remembered how scared 90s Kid had sounded when he called him after what had happened, how nervous and fidgety he was when he was staying with him and wouldn’t tell him what was going on. He remembered how shocked and angry he’d been when he found out how Holokara was torturing him with those horrible threats and visions, remembered how he’d held a sobbing 90s Kid in his arms after his nightmare that made him reveal everything, that led them to their first real kiss. Even though Dan had been touched that 90s Kid would reach out to him when he was afraid, he still hated how powerless he had been throughout it all. If he was going to date someone in the superhero business, he needed to do something to become more heroic himself. Dan didn’t know what, but knew he’d figure it out with 90s Kid’s help. His boyfriend was a wiz with weapons, and he could shoot when he had to, so Dan was sure they could come up with some plan for the next time an evil creature threatened them.

His thoughts also turned to that long ago night when he’d first realized he had feelings for 90s Kid. Dan had never met anyone who had brought him such joy before, someone who really understood what it was like to feel lost in time. Now, after what had probably been the longest week of his life, he still couldn’t believe that the young man lying safely in his arms was actually his boyfriend. Dan had always assumed that he’d never be able to share his heart with 90s Kid, since there were so many things that could stop them from having a relationship, and he’d been prepared to love him from afar, but now… now they were actually together. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. It was like a dream and Dan wanted nothing more than to stay asleep forever.

Now, Holokara was defeated, Linkara was safely back home, and they were finally able to enjoy some peace and quiet while they were truly alone for the first time. 90s Kid’s injuries were better, but the bruises hadn’t fully faded from his skin, and Dan knew that his emotional scars still needed to heal, but he’d vowed to do whatever it took to help 90s Kid come back to his old self again. There hadn’t been anyone to comfort him after losing a year of his life thanks to the Entity, and Dan would be damned if he let him go through such a harsh ordeal alone a second time.

“Dude? Something on your mind?” 90s Kid asked, which startled Dan out of his thoughts. He realized he must’ve been staring into space this whole time and shook his head slightly.

“No… it’s just… Kid?” he began, trying to figure out the words to say. “Are you happy with me?”

90s Kid frowned slightly, confused. “Of course I am, man. You always make me happy.” Dan smiled and slid their hands together.

“And… you like being with me, right?” 90s Kid sat up and turned off the TV. He didn’t understand why Dan was asking questions like this.

“Being with you is awesome, dude. You’re the best boyfriend ever!” He grinned and squeezed Dan’s hand to emphasize his point. “Why the, like, pop quiz all of a sudden?”

Dan blushed slightly and looked away. “I just… I just wanted to be sure you’re not with me because you feel like you have to be, or something…” He was surprised when 90s Kid leaned in and kissed him, pushing him gently down onto the couch and quickly lying on top of him. Dan wrapped his arms around the younger man and kissed him back, feeling a warmth start to spread through him.

“You don’t have to worry about that, dude. I’m with you because I totally love you, man. Isn’t that enough?” 90s Kid asked, smiling. Dan smiled back, feeling a lot better.

“It’s more than enough, Kid.” Dan hesitated before placing a gentle hand over 90s Kid’s heart. 90s Kid shivered slightly, but was otherwise still. “I hope you know that I’d never hurt you, Kid. Your heart is something that means a lot to me. I know you’re still healing from what happened to you, but from now on I’ll always keep it safe. Feeling it beating keeps my heart beating too.”

90s Kid placed his hand over Dan’s. “I know, Dan. I trust you, man. I wouldn’t trust it with anybody but you.” He leaned in for another kiss and Dan pulled him closer to him, feeling the familiar flutter in his stomach again. He gasped when 90s Kid moved his head lower and brushed his lips against his neck. “Is it okay when I do this now?” he whispered into his ear.

“Kid… now that we’re alone, you can do that as much as you like.” 90s Kid happily obliged, repeating the action several times, feeling Dan trying his best not to squirm too much. He started to get bolder then, kissing his neck, sucking lightly, then gently biting down, all the while gauging Dan’s reaction. The shivers and low moans made him giggle.

Dan tentatively leaned in and brushed his own lips against 90s Kid’s neck, feeling him squirm similarly in response. “Th-that tickles, dude,” he said, giggling again. Dan raised an eyebrow at him and laughed in return.

“Ok, good to know. I’ll just have to keep trying, and I’m sure I’ll find a sensitive spot on you eventually.” Dan started slowly rubbing his hands up and down 90s Kid’s back, eliciting a soft groan of pleasure. He blushed slightly. “Um, Kid… I… I know you haven’t done stuff like this before, so uh, let me know if I go too far, alright?”

90s Kid rolled his eyes from beneath his shades and sucked on Dan’s neck once again. After Dan had gotten over the tremors, he refocused his eyes and saw that 90s Kid was serious. “Like, how many times do I have to say I totally trust you, Dan?”

Dan chuckled softly and nodded. “I think I get the point now.” He leaned in and kissed him again, letting himself get a little bolder with his hands. 90s Kid trembled excitedly when he felt soft strokes along his thighs; Dan wasn’t moving his hands any lower, but it was still a more intimate touch than he was used to. 90s Kid kept up the action on Dan’s neck, unable to resist giggling as his boyfriend continued to gasp and moan.

“You’re totally fun to do that to, dude.” 90s Kid rested his head on Dan’s chest and yawned. Dan was starting to yawn as well, definitely feeling worn out from everything that had happened. He hugged 90s Kid close, rubbing his back softly, and enjoying how relaxed and safe his boyfriend was. Now that 90s Kid was away from harm and danger, Dan felt safe too. He noticed that 90s Kid was starting to fall asleep, but merely got more comfortable where he lay and smiled. They’d both earned a good rest.

Dan gently helped 90s Kid out of his sunglasses and hat, putting them on the table. 90s Kid placed a brief kiss to Dan’s chest before snuggling into it again and closing his eyes. Dan’s eyes were getting heavy, and he let out another yawn. 90s Kid’s face looked so serene and so content, he wished he could look upon it forever, but soon his eyes closed too and he joined his beloved in dreamland.

  



	14. Epilogue

The next day of their vacation went beautifully. The two went back down to the beach and swam around in the ocean, letting the waves crash against their backs as they splashed around. 90s Kid even taught Dan how to use the boogie board he’d brought, and he couldn’t help grinning with glee when they caught the eye of some beach babes. Dan could only laugh in amusement; 90s Kid was still the typical teenage boy, after all.

90s Kid held onto Dan as a particularly strong wave crashed over them, and Dan decided to grab him for an underwater kiss. Once the wave passed, they let go of each other, spitting and gagging from the salt. “Wow. That’s not as romantic as they make it seem in the movies!” Dan choked out, while 90s Kid nodded. They decided that was enough ocean fun for one day and got out of the water soon after.

The two spent the rest of their day collecting seashells and making sandcastles, trying to recreate things like the police precinct from Automan and the Freak Force headquarters. In what felt like no time at all, the sun started to go down and they knew it was time to head home.

They took turns showering, ordered some dinner from a nearby restaurant, and sat down on the couch to enjoy, still giggling just from how much fun they’d had that day. Eventually, Dan started yawning, and 90s Kid followed suit. “Time to head to bed?"  
  
“Yeah, man. Even I’ve had, like, too much fun for one day.” They cleaned up their dishes and walked to the bedroom hand in hand.

\----

“Extreme hug!” 90s Kid yelled gleefully as he tackled Dan onto the bed. Dan half-giggled, half-winced as 90s Kid peppered him with kisses while lying on top of him.

“You’re gonna kill me one of these days,” he joked before suddenly flipping them over so he was on top. 90s Kid laughed and started wrestling for dominance again, which led to hands roving over his boyfriend’s body. Dan yelped and snickered before retaliating, and soon they were in an all-out tickling war, mercilessly attacking each other’s ribs, sides, and under their arms. Dan playfully reached his hands under 90s Kid’s shirt, intending to tickle his bare skin, but stopped immediately when his fingers skittered across the teen’s chest and elicited a shudder and a loud gasp. “Are you okay, Kid? Did I hurt you?”

“N-no, dude…” 90s Kid stammered out, unsure of what he’d just felt. “It felt… it felt good…” Dan curiously moved his hands around, trying to figure out what he’d done to get that kind of reaction. He soon found his targets, rubbing lightly over the teen’s chest.

“You mean here?” Dan asked, his fingers tracing deftly over his nipples. 90s Kid nodded and gasped again, his head thrown back as he shivered. Dan grinned. “I knew I’d find a sensitive spot on you sooner or later.” He kept up the touch, leaning in to kiss the younger man’s neck, then moved up to his lips. 90s Kid blushed as Dan’s hands traveled lower to run over his thighs, gently rubbing them like he was giving a massage.

Dan’s eyes met his and he watched him very closely as he ran a light hand over 90s Kid’s crotch, through his shorts. 90s Kid’s hips moved up as if an electric jolt had passed through him; it was a natural response, since he’d never had someone touch him that intimately before. Dan was amazed at how strongly his boyfriend was reacting. He ran his fingers over that spot again, feeling him start to stiffen. “Does that feel good?”

“Y-yeah, man… just… strange, y’know?” 90s Kid stammered. “I, uh, nobody’s ever, uh… there… before…” 90s Kid had been prone to usual bouts of hormones and teenage energy, so he’d had experience with this kind of thing alone, but feeling someone else do it was new, strange, exciting, and even a little terrifying.

Dan moved his hand away. “If you’re uncomfortable, I can stop-”

90s Kid grabbed his hand and put it back over that spot, looking away in embarrassment. Dan’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but he traced his fingers there again. 90s Kid squirmed around, getting used to the fluttering in his stomach. Dan couldn’t help himself; he gently slid down the zipper on the teen’s shorts and slipped his hand inside, caressing him through his underwear.

90s Kid whimpered and buried his face in Dan’s neck, moaning loudly, his breath getting ragged as he became more and more over-stimulated. Dan couldn’t help moaning a little himself, seeing his boyfriend twitch was really turning him on. He reached his other hand under his shirt and 90s Kid cried out, feeling as though he would burst. “Oh, jeez, Dan… I… I’m…!”

Dan pulled his hand away from his chest and pulled 90s Kid close, whispering in his ear. “It’s okay Kid. I’ve got you, you can let it go…” 90s Kid arched against Dan as he let out a noisy, high-pitched moan. Dan held him tight, overjoyed at the sight of his boyfriend’s pleasure, his heart soaring as he realized they were taking the next step in their relationship.

90s Kid collapsed against him, breathless and shaking. Dan pulled him close and zipped his shorts back up, kissing his forehead. Dan was rock hard from the experience as well, but he didn’t want to push 90s Kid. He’d wait until he was ready. “Did that feel good, Kid?” 90s Kid swallowed and nodded.

“That was… amazing, dude… wow, did I really just, uh… .in my pants?” He squirmed around slightly. Dan chuckled.

“You did. I thought it’d be best if I didn’t go further than that for now.” 90s Kid kissed his neck and sighed happily.

“That was awesome… um, I dunno if I can, like, do it back just yet…. but soon?” Dan smiled.

“Whenever you’re ready. I’d never wanna rush you, Kid. For now, do you need another shower?”

“H-hold me a little longer…” Dan’s heart melted and he kissed the younger man tenderly, pulling him closer. He could feel 90s Kid trembling from his orgasm and he stroked his hair to help calm him down.

“As long as you need, Kid. I love you so much…”

“I love you too, man….”

\------

As 90s Kid was showering, Dan started to rummage through his bag and frowned. “Oh, no. I hope I didn’t forget to pack these…” He kept looking everywhere but he couldn’t find them.

“Forget to pack what?” 90s Kid asked walking in, already changed into his own pajamas.

“I can’t find my pajamas, Kid. I dunno what I’m gonna do.” 90s Kid blushed slightly and shrugged.

“Well, uh, it doesn’t matter to me how you sleep, dude…” Dan panicked slightly. He didn’t want to do anything 90s Kid was uncomfortable with, and he didn’t think they were prepared to sleep in the nude quite yet.

“I guess I’ll just sleep in my boxers tonight. If… if that’s alright with you?” 90s Kid nodded and the two crawled into bed together. 90s Kid started to calm down once he snuggled up next to him, feeling the warmth of Dan’s skin even through his pajamas. Dan smiled as he watched 90s Kid yawn and pillow his head against his shoulder, before wrapping his arm around him and letting out a yawn of his own.

He starting thinking back to how love must feel to a teenager, especially the first time sex starts to get involved. If he remembered right, it felt exciting and scary and a million other ways at once. Dan was so happy 90s Kid trusted him, and he hoped his boyfriend knew that he would never break his heart. He’d take as much time as he needed to get 90s Kid used to everything a physical relationship entailed.

“ _This is so much better than all that wild anonymous sex,”_ Dan thought to himself as he started to drift off. “ _Is… is this what I’ve been missing all this time?_ ” He leaned in to kiss 90s Kid’s forehead and saw him smile; in that moment, he silently pledged to never waste a second in the beginnings of his new life with him. They had only been together a short time, but it was still the happiest time he could remember. Dan would never let himself get clouded up with drugs again. He always wanted to be aware of what was going on, cherishing every minute.

” _I don’t want to screw this up. Please don’t let me screw this up. Please, God, I will forsake everything and everyone else if you just let me keep this. Let me keep him.”_

\------

The next two days were full of even more fun and relaxation. 90s Kid surfed and enjoyed the eye candy, and Dan did some more swimming in the ocean. It was so much fun hanging onto each other while the waves hit them (though they made sure to keep their mouths shut this time) and they even stopped for ice cream on their strolls back. Walking down the road to the beach house hand-in-hand, enjoying their treats, was simply wonderful.

The moon was shining on the water when they stopped to admire it one night, holding each other as they stood at the top of the steps, not walking inside quite yet. They kissed each other under the moonlight, feeling so content to be in each other’s arms, wishing the moment could last forever. But eventually they stepped inside and made their way back into the bedroom.

As Dan stripped down to his boxers and got into bed, he noticed 90s Kid suddenly fidgeting when he got his pajamas out of his duffel bag. “Hey, uh, I’m, uh, getting kinda hot in these heavy pajamas every night, so like, I’m gonna wear boxers too!” Dan raised his eyebrows in surprise as 90s Kid stripped down to his skivvies.

“Are you sure, Kid? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” 90s Kid was fidgeting and blushing, but he seemed very determined. Dan took it as a good sign that he wanted to do this and welcomed him into the bed. He was surprised as 90s Kid started rubbing his hands up and down his arms, back, and thighs, almost as if he was trying to instigate something. Dan mimicked the touch on him, feeling the heat rise from the younger man’s body.

90s Kid kissed him passionately, seeming to be driven by some sort of manic energy. Dan was sure he was being overtaken by teenage hormones and decided to oblige him, knowing he had to be feeling like a fever was overtaking him, like he needed contact and needed it now. Dan gasped as 90s Kid sucked and bit on his neck, and felt a tremor shoot through him as 90s Kid gripped his erection through the boxers. “U-uh, Kid, are you okay?”

“I… I feel strange, man… _good_  strange, though…” 90s Kid said, breathing hard, looking him in the eyes. Dan decided to turn the lights on and got out of bed, sliding down his boxers and kicking them away. 90s Kid did the same, feeling a huge rush of excitement. He couldn’t help but notice that it was the first time they’d seen each other naked. 90s Kid blushed and looked away slightly, his hands at his sides.

Dan’s eyes took him in, admiring him. Even though he’d seen him partially undressed on the beach, this felt like a whole new experience. His boyfriend had a cute pudgy stomach, a hairless chest, and he was rock hard, at least six inches. Dan’s heart pounded with excitement, never dreaming that he’d be able to do this with him. It was intoxicating.

90s Kid’s eyes also scanned over Dan. He was significantly hairier than him, and he couldn’t help noticing how much bigger the older man was, seven inches at the very least. He swallowed at the sight and Dan reached out his hand. “You okay, Kid?” 90s Kid pulled him back into his arms and kissed him, sending them both tumbling to the bed.

Dan laid back and watched as 90s Kid laid a shaking hand on Dan’s cock, rubbing his fingers up and down it in wonder. “Wow. Dude, you’re huge.” Kid said, obviously impressed. Dan blushed, feeling a shiver go through his body.

“I’m not that big, Kid,” he mumbled, though he couldn’t help but feel flattered. 90s Kid saw the way he was reacting and started to grow more confident. He wrapped his fingers around it and started to stroke a bit, loving the way Dan sighed happily.

“Um… dude, could I… um… could I try to, uh…” 90s Kid couldn’t quite get the words out, but Dan knew what he meant and finished his thought for him.

“You want to suck me, Kid?”

The teen nodded, nervous and blushing. "Um... I've never done this before..."

Dan reached out and took his hand. "It's okay, Kid. Why don't you focus on me for now and get comfortable. Just do whatever you feel like." Dan moved into a comfy position and sighed happily as 90s Kid trailed a hand over his thigh. "Mmmmm... that feels good, Kid. Do whatever you want. Trust me, there's no way you could go wrong." Dan grinned. He let out a deep moan as 90s Kid's soft fingers traced over his length, gently feeling from base to tip and then back again. Each time, he got a little bolder with his touch, wanting Dan to keep making those wonderful noises.

Finally, 90s Kid scooted down the bed until he was face-to-face with Dan's hard-on. Dan ran his hand through 90s Kid's hair and smiled. "Go ahead, Kid. Take it slow, just do what you want to do to get used to it."

90s Kid hesitantly reached out his tongue and started licking at the tip, catching the liquid that was starting to escape. He'd never tasted anything like it, but he definitely enjoyed it. He ran his tongue up and down the shaft, sucking at the sides lightly. Dan shivered and moaned, loving the way it felt. His tongue was soft and supple, and it felt amazing...

Finally, 90s Kid slipped his lips over the head and took him inside his mouth. Dan's resulting gasp gave him courage, and he started to suck again, taking him a little deeper each time. 

"Oh, y-yeah, babe...  oh, that's so good... you're a natural at this... oh… use your t-tongue more, side to side, oh yes, just like that! Oh, MAN..."

90s Kid loved the reaction he was getting out of Dan and he started going faster. He heard Dan's warning that he was getting close but didn't stop. Dan grunted and he felt the warm liquid spill out, but it was hard for 90s Kid to swallow with his mouth so full already. Instead, he let go, coughing and sputtering. 

In spite of every nerve in Dan's body telling him to turn into a quivering mass of Jell-O, he quickly sat up and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "Don't worry, babe. You did great. That felt so good..."

90s Kid licked his lips and sighed. "Sorry about the ending, man."

Dan grinned. "No need to be sorry, Kid. For a first time, that was incredible. And with practice, I'm sure you can perfect it." 90s Kid smiled back and kissed him, giving him a taste of what was in his mouth, before he found himself gently being laid back down onto the bed. 

Dan's eyes met his. "Can I…?”

90s Kid eagerly nodded. "We'll see how you match up, dude." Dan laughed and slowly moved his way down, coming face to face with 90s Kid’s stiff erection. Dan naturally had experience with this, and he knew just what to do. 90s Kid whimpered low in his throat as Dan ran his tongue everywhere, sucking the sides of his shaft like a vacuum, and reaching a soft hand up to cup his balls.

90s Kid’s hips kept bucking up and Dan placed his hands on them to steady him. He took pity on the teen and took it all into his mouth, fitting the entire length with ease. 90s Kid cried out loudly, he’d never felt anything like this before. Nobody had ever done something like this to him, and it felt unbelievable. “Dan… Daaaaan… oh jeez, don’t stop, man… ohhhh…”

Dan definitely knew what he was doing. As 90s Kid got louder and louder and kept squirming around, he knew the teen was getting ready to explode. That was okay, Dan knew he hadn’t learned stamina or self-control yet, and there was plenty of time for that. 90s Kid arched his back and keened, exploding into Dan’s mouth, who expertly swallowed every last drop. He gently sucked until the tremors stopped and then took the trembling 90s Kid into his arms, rubbing his back soothingly.

Dan held him as he caught his breath, feeling as though his heart might burst with happiness. He had a huge smile on his face, feeling overjoyed that 90s Kid trusted him, that he loved him, that they were together and he could act on his feelings. He hugged him close and sighed happily. “Did you like that, Kid?”

“Y-yeah…” Dan was startled to hear the sound of sniffling coming from 90s Kid. He looked down and saw that 90s Kid had tears rolling down his face. Dan panicked, feeling his heart plummet, terrified that he had hurt him.

“Oh god, Kid, did I go too far? I’m so sorry-” 90s Kid shook his head, putting a hand on Dan’s cheek. 90s Kid smiled through his tears, kissing him softly.

“No, man, I’m just… feeling happy, that’s all.” Dan sighed in relief and brushed the teen’s tears away. “I feel weird, man… it felt good, like, why am I crying?”

“You’re just feeling emotional. It’s understandable, Kid, it’s our first time together, and sometimes when things feel good or make you happy, they kinda overwhelm you…” Dan felt himself getting teary eyed too, and he pulled 90s Kid closer to him. Tears started rolling down his cheeks and 90s Kid kissed them away in turn. Dan felt like the luckiest man on earth as they cuddled and slowly drifted off to sleep, no more words needed that night.

\-----

Dan stirred drowsily in bed, yawning and stretching his body out. He sighed happily and lay on his back, enjoying the feeling of the cool sheets against his naked body. He opened his eyes slightly and then blinked to focus on the sight before him.   
  
A nude 90s Kid was curled up in the corner chair, working quietly in his sketchbook. He was devoid of his trademark hat and sunglasses and though Dan thought his boyfriend's dress sense was wonderful, he loved seeing that gorgeous shade of blue in his eyes. His soft hair was lightly tousled and he seemed lost in his own little world as he put pencil to paper. Dan had never seen anything so beautiful.  
  
90s Kid smiled as he noticed his boyfriend was awake. "Hey."  
  
Dan smiled and kept his position so as not to ruin his portrait. "Hey."  
  
"I'm just putting on the finishing touches now, dude. What do you think?" 90s Kid spun the sketchbook around to reveal his drawing of a sleeping Dan, the sheets around his waist, looking very peaceful. After slipping on his glasses, Dan marveled at how well the teen could draw. "That's amazing, Kid. You're such a great artist."  
  
90s Kid's cheeks went faintly pink and Dan felt his heart melt as a result. He held out his arms in silent invitation for the younger man to join him, and 90s Kid didn't need telling twice. He crawled into the bed and slid into Dan's waiting arms, sighing in contentment.   
  
The two gently kissed and caressed, feeling no urgency, enjoying the beautiful morning. Dan's lips went everywhere he could reach, forehead, nose, cheeks, lips, eyes. They weren't quite making out, just living their love for each other. It was one of those moments they never wanted to end; the way they were, they felt like the only two people in the world.

90s Kid suddenly looked away, his expression falling. Dan noticed and tenderly placed a hand on his face. “What’s wrong, Kid? Didn’t you have fun with me this week?”

“Dude, it’s been totally bodacious, but…” His voice shook. “I… I just wish that it didn’t have to, like, end… y’know?” Dan started to feel a lump in his throat; he nodded, completely understanding how he felt. This trip had been so wonderful and now it was their last day at the beach. Later that afternoon they’d have to go home, and Dan would go back to ROB and Dolly and 90s Kid would go back to Linkara and the rest of his friends. But… he didn’t want to let him go.

“I miss Linkara and Harvey and all them, but… I totally wish I didn’t have to leave you, Dan.” 90s Kid threw his arms around him and buried his face in his neck. Dan felt the tears start to fall, so he hugged him close, trying to think of something that would comfort them both. Then a thought occurred to him, a thought that came from a day that seemed so long ago now, when 90s Kid had first slept in his arms.

“One day, you won’t have to, Kid.” 90s Kid wiped his eyes and looked up, intrigued. Dan went on. “I don’t know when, but one day I want us to be able to get our own place together. We’ll be able to finally take all of our stuff out of boxes and decorate everything the way we want to. We won’t have people staring at us like we’re weird or annoying because of what we like. And we’ll be able to wake up every morning next to each other and go through our day together and go to bed next to each other at night… and most importantly of all: I’d always be able to keep you safe.”

90s Kid’s eyes had widened in unrestrained surprise but then he grinned widely and kissed Dan deeply, feeling much better already. “I totally want that, like, more than anything, dude. More than I want Coke II back.” Dan’s eyes flew open, surprised.

“Wow, that’s a lot of want, Kid. Are you sure I can live up to that?” 90s Kid laughed and they both started feeling better, giggling together in bed.

“I really do want that, man. You… you mean it? We’ll have it one day?”

Dan looked into his eyes and nodded. “I do. I promise.” 90s Kid gave him the most touching, earnest smile and Dan’s breath caught in his throat. “ _I can’t believe we’ve come this far. Whatever I did to deserve you, Kid, it couldn’t have been enough.”_

\-------

Later on when as they were packing their things, Dan turned to the teen. “Hey, Kid, have you seen that hair brush I brought with me?”

“Yeah, I think I put that in my bag by mistake. Should be near the bottom.” Dan rummaged through 90s Kid’s duffel bag and frowned as he pulled something out: his pajamas.

“What the…?” He looked to 90s Kid, who had an impishly innocent smile on this face. He shrugged.

"Oh, that's what you were looking for, dude? I totally must have accidentally kept them in the bottom of my bag all week.” Dan blinked a few times in genuine surprise before he let out a laugh.

“Well then, I think there’s only one thing to say to that…” Dan stood, turned to 90s Kid, and ran at him. “Extreme hug!” He tackled 90s Kid to the bed and the two giggled and shrieked and tickled each other until they felt exhausted. The they just laid in each other’s arms laughing, packing and pajamas entirely forgotten. In a little while, they’d finish and they’d get in the car and be on their way back, but for now, Dan soaked up the feeling of having 90s Kid all to himself one last time.

The last two weeks played once again in his head. 90s Kid being attacked, Holokara tormenting them, the tears, the nightmares, the kisses, the laughter, the smiles, and finally, the reward for their perseverance through it all. They were in love, they were safe, and nothing could change that. He rubbed 90s Kid’s back and said the words that he would say every minute for the rest of his life if he could.

“I love you, 90s Kid.”

“And I love you, 80s Dan.”

-THE END-

  
  



End file.
